Inevitability
by Mercymadness
Summary: Suki Cho is reborn. She awakens to a new world only to be thrown into its chaos, and it keeps getting crazier from there. Can she control her darkness, or does it control her? Will memories of a life long past be useful in such a different world? And why do her eyes hurt so much? (AU, OC)
1. Enter: Suki!

While she knew that something was wrong, it took her too long to notice exactly what. She was being held. Being carried was an extremely odd sensation, although the swaying and tapping of steps were comforting. Her first memory was being carried from room to room, against the shoulder of a woman with far too much hair.

The first memory in this body, anyways. She thinks she has other memories, presumably from a past life. They are faint, but they are all she has to reflect on in her rather bored and useless state. So she reflects, when she has time, and currently she has a lot of time.

She remembers feeling a mother's comfort. Remembers kissing someone soft, laying in their arms. Images flitted through her head at random; faint pictures of a strong man with tanned skin, and a woman carrying a newborn child. Rough hands gliding through her short sweaty hair. A woman with golden blonde hair and a warm hug. She remembers she was smart and shy, but she can't remember the color of her eyes, or the house she grew up in. Personal memories seem to be her only problem, as she can still think in her old language, recognize and identify objects she had never seen, and she do math problems in her mind... even though she can't remember how she learned it. It felt more like common sense. It doesn't really matter though. She has a new body. A new life.

A new body... that is insanely weak. Even shitting herself takes an insane amount of effort, muscle control is apparently not in her immediate future. She would have liked to say she was a quiet baby, she tried to be considerate to her caretakers, but she cried too often out of sheer frustration of not being able to move. What little progress she made was never enough, despite using all the time she was awake to build her strength.

Her caretakers, which she had deduced are not her parents, often carried her, cooing in a strange language, which she was desperate to latch onto. She was surrounded by other children most of the time, their shrieks and cried grated on her sensitive hearing. She realized the woman with far too much hair was probably not her mother, after being breastfed by another woman. To her easily confused state, she had thought she had same sexed parents, but the confusion quickly faded with more observations. It didn't take long to realize; she and the kids around her do not have parents.

But the woman with far too much hair seemed to be her main caretaker, so she became a mother of sorts. As far as she understood, she was the youngest child in the facilities care. She was observant of the other women bustling about the large house, bringing one group of children snacks or reading to another. None of them had babies on their shoulders, and her crib was the only one she had seen in all of their 'exploring' of the house.

Exploring the village on the shoulder of her 'mother' was much more fun. Oh yeah, and that. She lived in a village now. Cue complete culture shock. Her past life had been full of tall metal buildings and technology, information and communication at the touch of your fingers. Hundreds of tousands of people, all had access to amazing equipment, for both entertainment and work.

There _are _lights and electricity here, adding an odd modern feel to the rows of wooden houses and shops (which, she had no idea how they constructed them, the architecture is so different than anything she'd ever seen, and honestly didn't seem sturdy). She was far too small herself to judge to size of the village and amount of people, but she can inherently tell it isn't near anything the size from _before. _

The small girl often went on walks through the crowded streets, being carried while her caretaker, Aki, runs supplies to the orphanage. These walks were quite common, and often the highlight of her week. She babbles in the beautiful womans' ears, tugging her clothes for balance and staring at all the vivid reds and blues they didn't have at home.

Strolling through the crowded market streets on the side of Aki, she really observed the people of her new village for the first time. There seemed to be a very popular uniform, and bladed weapons were carried openly and with pride. Flashes of old memory come with the sight. Strange metal weapons, loud bangs, and metal projectiles tear through the middle of a fragile paper target. She shakes the images from her mind, rubbing her eyes with a chubby hand.

The next uniformed person that caught her wondering blue eye, she watched. She was able to observe for a few moments, curious as to why thy all had that heavy looking vest on in this heat. The woman turned and caught her gaze with red eyes almost immediately. The girl hid in Aki's mane of hair, flinching from the sudden eye contact, hoping her dark ash black hair blended enough with Aki's blue black to be unnoticeable. When she peeked out from behind her curtain, the red-eyed lady was lost in the crowd. Aki continued her shopping and the girl continued her quiet watching, making sure not to focus too hard on any uniformed citizens.

A towering monument of faces above us cast a shadow over the market, sheltering most from the heat. Chubby little child arms were wrapped around Aki's neck as they rested on a bench, the long day of walking (well, being carried, but it was exhausting in its own way) in horrible humidity making her already weak child body even weaker. The grocery bags were at the foot of the bench, the child splayed on her chest, a book held open against her back. She turned her head so she wouldn't get the crumbs of her fish cracker snack in Aki's hair. The small snack food went a long way in replenishing her energy, and Aki set her on the ground as she gathered her bags, ready to walk them home.

She unsteadily stood, toddling to hang onto the wooden bench seat. She bounced in place and babbled as she waiting to be picked up once again. She loved walking but hated falling, specially in a diaper. It was just uncomfortable, as you can probably imagine, and at almost a year old she was still pretty uncoordinated. As Aki gathered all the bags, she reached her stubby arms above her head to be picked up, but something occurred to her rather suddenly.

Meaning, she ended up on her ass before even realizing what happened. She should have kept her hold on the bench, but who knows if that would've actually made any difference.

"SUKI!" yelled Aki. The ground shook once more, and Aki fell too, almost crushing her. Pure energy whipped through the air out of no where, sending dust into her eyes and threatening to sweep her small form into the growing tornado of papers and dancing leaves, all moving fast enough to leave burning papercuts on her exposed skin. The air itself turned purple, and then red, and then it burned. It even burned her lungs as she wailed, screaming in confusion at the sudden and unexpected agony she was experiencing.

It burned like the fire she had once experienced _before. _Memories of charred and blistered flesh surfaced violently, causing her to curl in on herself, instinctively holding her arms to her body. This energy burned. It burned like her flesh was melting off her bones. It _burned_ like she was in hell, with nothing else for the fire to consume but _her. _And it was _hungry. _It wanted to **eat. **It wanted to destroy. It wanted _fuel. _And then it was all too much, because it went back to black. Back to after the _before, _and before the now_. _Her mind was so peaceful again, so quiet.

She didn't want it to end after the brief but monumental torture she just endured. She just wanted rest now. She didn't want to remember the fire, and she didn't want to feel the acidic burn against her skin when she woke up. She didn't want to go back. She would be covered in blisters and sores and charred flesh.

She was like that for a while. The dark was a relief. It hugged her on all sides, tightly, leaving no room for the pain or agony that would tear her apart if she ever left it's comfort.

Someone was calling her though. Something felt wrong. Just slightly off, like when you feel like something bad is going to happen, but have no way to explain it. "Suki," was stated in her mind, an unfamiliar disembodied voice in her own head. The word was written behind her tingling eyelids, in a language not known to this world. It lit up her pitch black comfort into a dull grey glow. That was her. Suki.

There was another name behind it now. It was too blurry to read, too far into the dark to make out. But it was there. And it took all of her pain away, and it took all of her fear, and it took all of her unwanted memories. And it became her too. Now it was just them, Suki and an unknown that was also Suki, but also not.

And now she was ready to wake up. Slowly, feeling came back into her body, and she smacked her dry tongue against her lips, trying to regain some moisture.

She pried open her crusted, stinging eyes, noticing she was alone. Within her blue eyes sat the curse of hatred.


	2. Enter: Team 13!

Suki leaned her head on her hand as she stared out of the dirty classroom widow, trying not to doze off as her teacher lectured them about the rules of their exam. Her sapphire blue eyes turned back to the paper packet on her desk, the dark circles under them seeming much more prominent than normal. In her other hand, her pencil was poised to start writing. There was a tension in the air, and her senses were on high alert despite her exhaustion.

Today was her graduation exam. Suki studied religiously the previous night, reviewing every spare note she had taken since the start of the academy. The small black haired girl was taking the test a year early, basically unheard of outside of wartime, but the chunin teachers admired her ambition enough to allow her an attempt. She understood why they didn't think she could make it, considering her class hadn't yet been taught the basic 3 jutsu, and the graduation requirements were much more strict when Iwa and Kuma weren't culling them by the hundreds. The replacement technique, the clone technique, and the transformation technique was her biggest obstacle. That normally came in the last year of the academy, after it was determined there would be no more dropouts.

Little did the teachers know, the little sneak had "friends" in high places. Such friends included upperclassmen naively leaving their jutsu notes unattended during break, of which she was able to copy and study on her own. It had been a challenge, but she succeeded. They were the basic 3 for a reason; they were ridiculously easy. She copied notes frequently from different students. It was the only reason she was confident she could pass.

And so, here she was, scribbling in a concentrated fervor. There was a ridiculous amount of questions, she could either waste time on checking her answers or try to answer as many as possible. There were quite a few questions she knew even the year above her hadn't learned. She answered those to the best of her ability. It still wasn't quite fast enough, as she still had a full blank page when time was called and they were instructed to put their pencils down.

They were called one by one to hand in their packets and enter a conjoined room, where they would continue their test. As she sat right in front of the entrance, she had to watch each student walk through the door with anxiety rolling around in her stomach like marbles in a bowl. This needed to be over already.

Her navy blue pinky nail was picking wax out of her ear when she was finally called. The exhausted-looking chunin at the front of the room lazily drawled her name, "Suki Cho?"

She focused on her feet as she wiped her finger on her shirt, handed in her paper, and turned to the door. She felt like she was buzzing, chakra had probably flooded her muscles on instinct, same as the adrenaline sharpening her eyesight and hearing. These classes were boring her to death and she was tired of being stuck around immature children. She had been ridiculously lucky thus far in life, and could only hope her streak could continue.

She had been lucky to be an orphan. While morbid, she could realize this as fact. It disadvantaged her in some areas, but was also the card up her sleeve. Had she been in any normal family, they would have questioned her natural wisdom and knowledge of the world. Suki was far too lazy to pretend she was stupid, and would have been deemed either a spy or a prodigy. Neither of which had promising fates (a shiver rolled down her spine as she remembered the newspaper clippings she saw a while ago, a clan massacred by their their own genius).

She was lucky to have been reincarnated. Or whatever she was. She didn't feel like she was any older than she actually was, she still felt like 12-year-old Suki Cho. She just... knew things. Had memories she couldn't possibly have. They didn't quite feel like _hers_, but they had to be. It was disorienting when she slipped between "old" memories and her own, but she could tell the difference between them clearly.

She _so _lucky to have such random knowledge, even if she sometimes doubted its accuracy. She assumes she must have been a therapist or something in her previous life, as she knew an aweful lot about the human phychology, but some things seem totally different in this world. Probably because of chakra, which wasn't something that she remembered ever existing _before. _

Suki was also lucky to be so naturally inclined to the ninja lifestyle. It was almost like it was in her blood. Kunai and shuriken sung in her palms. Her muscles burned pleasantly when she exercised, it was almost hard for her to stop. She would push herself to the point of nausea before finally giving up, but even that wasn't enough. If she didn't have any ninja in her DNA, she would be truly surprised.

Hopefully that talent would help her graduate today. Shaking herself from her daze, she steeled her nerves before continuing to the second part of the exam. The door closed behind her with a clack, alerting the new examiner to her presence.

The black haired girl seemed like an airhead from any outside perspective, she often had a deadpan or dazed look on her face. The only thing that told of her hard work were the permanent dark circles under her eyes, from years of restless nights, and the muscles hidden under an old baggy off-shoulder blue t-shirt and black ninja pants with matching boots, which were tapered together with bandanges.

Maybe if she passed, she would buy herself a new outfit? She would need one better suited for "ninja-business" anyways. Maybe she could spoil herself and actually buy _female _clothes? Male clothes tend to be cheaper, she hadn't ever thought twice on saving the extra cash.

She cleared her throat, and the Yamanaka proctor focused on her with sky-blue pupiless eyes. Goosebumps erupted along her pale arms. She could feel her fingers trembling minutely, and in an attempt to ease her nerves, she popped her knuckles. The pretty young Yamanaka seemed less than impressed, looking down her nose to meet a similar blue gaze. Her voice was much deeper than Suki expected, it almost made her jump when the blonde spoke. "Suki Cho. Please perform the Transformation jutsu to the best of your ability. Your target is the written exams' proctor."

Soft black hair tickled her hot face as she nodded. Swallowing the anxiety that grew in her throat, she took a stance and performed the handsigns slower than normal, just in case she fucked it up. That would be embarrassing.

She focused on the memory of handing in her paper, cursing herself at the fact she had been so nervous she barely studied his appearance. Hopefully her recollection was accurate. Plain, course brown hair; brown eyes with crows feet and laugh lines; a small scar in the corner of thin lips; small, slightly uneven ears. Rather tall, probably six feet? At least.

She moulded her chakra in a shell around her body, forming an illusion into the details she had observed. The transformation technique was unique, a delicate mixture of nin- and genjutsu. The chakra had to be solid but flexible, so the transformation could move normally (too solid or too soft would make its movements look too stiff or too jello-like_), _which fit more into the ninjustu category, but the real challenge was in the genjutsu part. You had to create an illusion from your imagination, which was a lot harder than it sounded. It's much easier when you have a memory to focus on, but requires a certain amount of focus if you haven't mastered it. That's how some people manage to hold up a henge even in combat. Your control and familiarity with the jutsu would need to be excellent.

In a small burst of smoke, where small Suki had once stood, was now the tall chunin academy teacher. She even tried mimicking his posture and facial expression (slightly slouched with an impatient scowl).

The blonde chunin had been aware of the youngest examinee, but had thought nothing of it. No one denied a student if they wanted to try to graduate early, so the smart ones used that opportunity to take the test a year early get a feel for how the it would be conducted. She obviously didn't actually expect the barely 12-year-old to be able to perform a jutsu (even E-rank) that hadn't been taught in class.

"Wait a second you brat, where'd you learn that?! Who taught you?!" The disbelief in her voice couldn't be filtered. She was now standing, staring at her "coworkers" face. It was an extremely good transformation, made more impressive by the acting. "He" shrugged his shoulders, and pupiless eyes studied the fluid way the chakra construct moved. It was a near perfect consistency.

Sighing, the proctor slumped back into her seat. Suki let the transformation drop. The girl looked at her faded black boots, noticing the way her laces were starting to fray. Definitely would buy herself a cool new outfit if she could manage to get herself out of this mess. She decided that being honest was probably the best. After all, what if they decided to hold her back for lying? What if they were just testing her, and they already knew of her antics? "I, uh, borrowed some notes."

The Yamanaka slapped a hand to her face, and threw a blue headband at the smaller girl rather forcefully. It hit her square in the stomach, and she scrambled to catch it before it fell. "I assume on your own? Don't practice without supervision you idiot. If you got yourself killed, it'd be awefully embarrassing. There's your headband, you're the Hokages' problem now. Come back in a week for genin orientation. Congratulations, kunoichi. Now scram."

Suki nodded, dazedly tying the blue headband around her thigh before making her way to the academy gates, not pointing out that she couldn't be embarrassed if she was dead. She could remember some very embarrassing moments from _before_, after all.

The sense of accomplishment burning through her veins made her want to scream from excitement, but she had better manners than that. Instead of squealing with joy, she took off on a run. It was a wild dash instead of her usual placid pace, straight through the center of the village. She parkoured around citizens and through the market, laughing uncontrollably whenever she was airborne particularly long or when her momentum was at its fastest. She got a few dirty looks from the ninja on patrol, but they couldnt damper her spirits. By the time she looped back around to her house, she had probably lapped the whole village twice. It showed in her exhaustion.

Standing at the entrance to her apartment complex, she had to lean over the railing and vomit before she entered. Sometimes, Suki worked out a little too hard. She often pushed herself to literal sickness, and with no one to tell her to stop, she didn't. She didn't know her body's limitations at times.

She took off the blue string necklace her key resided on and tossed it onto the coffee table before going to clean up, once again losing herself in memories. She sat in her small bathtub, enjoying the lukewarm water and trying to ignore the mold that had creeping down from the ceiling (again, she had scrubbed it clean probably seven times now). It was easy to forget about her dingy apartment and get lost in her thoughts when they were much more pleasant.

The petite blonde woman was in most of her happy memories. Fresh and clean smelling. Her bony figure poking into her when they hugged and she had a laugh like wind chimes. Suki wonders, absently, if this woman was her mom, or another family member. Or a friend. Or even a lover. She wonders if the woman would be proud of Suki for graduating, if she would be disappointed in her for copying someone's notes and practicing jutsu without permission. She wonders if she will ever meet a person like that in this lifetime.

She lays on her bed, hair wet from her bath. Suki wishes she had such a someone to share her accomplishments with, to laugh together, to cry together. To hold until their arms were too tired to hold each other any longer. To eat sweets with, filling the cracks in their hearts together as they complained about life.

In place of the blonde woman, Suki removed the pillow from under her head and held it in her arm instead, wrapping one thin leg around the threadbare fabric of her pillowcase. Her other arm curled underneath her head, taking its spot, ignoring the dampness her hair had left. It wasn't quite the same, but it would do.

She should invest in more pillows.

**Change POV**

Kotaro was a simple man. All he wanted was money, women, and power. He wanted a simple, easy life. But the Nara was also a realist. Women? They cause problems. Power? That definitely gives you problems. Money? Well, money is the root of all problems. None of which led to a simple, easy life.

So despite his wish for riches, he lives a very minimalistic life. He penny-pinches, even though he makes more than most in the village as a jonin. Despite his longing for a female companion, he refrains from indulging. He was rather pitiful with the opposite sex, and it's really saving everybody involved from a headache. And despite his lust for power, he doesn't particularly involve himself with the political schemes that the elite normally find themselves in. It was the influence that attracted him- not all the mind games and responsibilities. So he stayed in the background.

In some ways, he was every bit his clans legacy.

When the Hokage offered him a team this year, he had been surprised, but took a couple days to consider. Not many Nara took on teams, for very practical reasons. A genin team would most definitely hold him back in a lot of areas. Innumerable, assumably. He could always fail them with a test, use the excuse that he didn't see potential, but Kotaro was lazy. While most Nara like wasting their time with pointless tasks, Kotaro does not. His laziness expresses itself in other ways.

Alas, he saw a glimmer of an opportunity. There was one Nara trait he embodied wholly, and that was opportunism. Maybe it was just a gut feeling, telling him that _something _held promise here, but who was he to deny it? They would be Team 13, and while some saw it as cursed, it had always been his lucky number. His senses have never failed him before.

Okay, maybe they have failed him a few times. But not often. There was logic behind this decision, unlike a couple of his previous... _instinctual _actions.

Taking on a genin team gave him a considerable pay raise. He could finally get that house at the edge of the compound he's been looking at for the past month, and move out of the cramped little apartment his aunt rented to him while he saved up for a nice place. Cute little students might also mean he could pull a _kunoichi _instead of a civilian (which ninja normally attracted by the swarms. Too many glorified romantic novels, his aunt explained to him). That thought was tempting enough on its own. Iryo-nin were known to be suckers for children, and didn't have a lot of free time... perfect for a man who didn't care much for romantism. Coupled with a new place? He could try his chances. That's not even mentioning the amount of time he would have off, missions would be cut to zilch for a short while, which was horribly tempting with the pace the Hokage had been pushing his Corp lately. He would even have more free time to train and get stronger, possibly even develop that jutsu he had been working on for years now, the breakthrough idea that might put him in a more favorable position with the Nara Clan Elders he so often displeased. Even if his team flopped, it's still a net gain. He wouldn't have to put that much effort into them, just enough for them to become chunin. Piece of cake, as a Nara. He just had to be ruthlessly efficient.

Really, the "consideration" was more for show. This was a blessing in disguise. He couldn't let the Hokage know that, though. The old man would be a little too smug, considering a previous conversation that had taken place.

But enough of that. He was getting his own little students!

His dark brown hair, short and spiked, matched the goatee he was casually rubbing in thought. He had all three of their files in his gloved palm, and he was unusually tempted to read them before he got to the privacy of his apartment. Innocent impulses like these were normally ones that got him in trouble, so he refrained. Black-brown eyes scanned the thickness, noticing one was much smaller than the other two.

Finally slipping through his front door, he spread the files over his stained kitchen table, tossing a couple of old coffee mugs in the half-full sink. He scanned the smallest file first. Suki Cho.

Orphaned at birth by mother Suki Cho, she was given her mother's name in her honor. Her mother had been a seamtress, becoming pregnant on a trip to obtain rare silks for a kimono commission. She, embarassingly, claimed she forgot who the father was. She had a complicated pregnancy, and went into an early labor her body wasn't ready for. Suki grew up in the Yakushi orphanage, before entering the academy and recieving home-care education (a common d-rank mission given to the Genin Corp. Basically just "teach orphans how to take care of themselves so we can focus on the important things").

She seemed to excel, surprisingly. Orphans and civilian born didn't tend to rank in the better half of their class, let alone top five. The system wasn't up to date, anybody could admit, but only since the latest war have civilians really been called into action. Yet Suki Cho sat at rank 3, top kunoichi of her grade, besting even most of the boys. That was rather noteworthy.

She didn't have prodigy status, but she was considered a rare talent. Stealing an older kids notes and learned the basic 3 without an adult noticing was quite an accomplishment. If she wasn't a genius, she was awfully crafty.

His next student had quite a thicker file compared to the basically one-page report on his underclassman. Jun Jun, aged 13, had a heavy record of cheating on tests and assignments. He's lucky he's in a ninja academy. They let it slide, considering what they're being trained for... if you can do it well enough. A few notes here or there on Juns' attitude drew his attention. The boy apparently has an issue with authority figures.

He, like his teammate, has absolutely no shinobi life exposure. Great, _two _civilian-raised he would have to show the ropes. It was going to be awfully troublesome.

He groaned as he reached across the table to grab the rest of the unread papers, his green vest pressing heavily into his sternum. Masao Aubrame, he read. Hey, there's once clan kid at least.

It matched every typical Aubrame file. Well-behaved, responsible, intelligent, and lots of bugs. Kotaro has worked with plenty of Aubrame, if he has any questions he's sure he could approach any one of his coworkers.

The clan was rather odd, they liked being asked for help. There was a legend saying the bug clan joined Konoha only because the First Hokage and his wife politely asked with an offering of a tree who's sap attracts rare beetles. They had been so moved by the gift and politeness they couldn't refuse. Despite their well-known good nature, they were still written off as "creepy" by most of the population.

A challenging team, he thought to himself. Potential for tracking, capture, and recon. Possibly even infiltration. Of course the Hokage would stick him with something like this. The jonin had some ideas already brewing as he looked at their newly printed genin identification pictures.

He would only know which idea would be viable when he saw their skill level. Academy Ability Reports are _rarely _accurate.

He had a good feeling though. So when the next week found him standing in front of three useless looking brats, he tried to keep optimistic. The group of four sat in the middle of a training ground that resides on the outskirts of the Nara compound, therefore the edge of the village. His students formed a half-circle around a wooden log, which he was perched upon like a bird observing its prey. The Nara Forest loomed behind him, the shadows from the setting sun reaching for their tiny little toes. They were stiff under his gaze, waiting for any sort of inclination to what what going one.

His jonin uniform felt rather warm in this weather, and he was secretly jealous of the comfortable looking kids in front of him. His hand landed on his chin absently as he observed them.

Jun seemed taller than he actually was, his big personality and perfect posture seemed to add to his height. His black hair was messy and unkempt, standing up at multiple odd angles. He wore a very practical outfit consisting of black cargo shorts with multiple zippered pockets and a grey T-shirt. The dark colors made his pale skin seem almost ashy, and contrasted with his navy blue ninja sandals. He sat closer to his male teammate, which led Kotaro to assume they were acquainted.

Masao was in the usual Aubrame light grey cloak, with black ninja pants visible underneath. His chocolate brown hair was almost invisible under his hood, but he could see the bump of a ponytail at the back of his neck. He had a spattering of freckles along the bridge of his nose, half-hidden by a pair of black oval-shaped sunglasses. He seemed buzzing with excitement, unable to sit still.

The smallest and youngest of the three, also the only female, sat slightly off to the side. Her ash black hair was in a short messy style he could tell she probably cut by herself with a kunai. It didn't look _bad, _just choppy and slightly asymmetrical. She had a striking pair of hazy blue eyes that would have her pegged for a Yamanaka if her pupil went missing. The dark circles that painted her under eyes told him she didn't get much sleep, but she didn't look tired. Just a little out-of-focus. She had a dark beauty mark just below her left eye, and other random dots dotted her seldom exposed skin. Her outfit was brand-new, today was probably the first day she had worn it. She had a black battle skirt adorned with slits in the thighs for mobility and built-in shorts. White pouches rested on each thigh above matching kunai holsters. Ambidextrous then? She had a simple white tank top with a grey (almost black) cropped hoodie over top. The crop ended just above where he assumed her bellybutton would be. She had on black cleated ankle boots that covered her feet completely, an unusual style for a ninja, but not unheard of. Dark gray socks that matched her hoodie stopped just above her knee, a thick patch where her joint lay to slightly protect for rough landings. A very practical outfit.

She was the only one out of the three who had calloused and scars adorning her small hands. She was the only one who was wary of the shadows creeping towards them steadily, sending her sensei unsure glances. She was _also _the only one who had brought full gear, kunai and medic pouches included.

They were a monotone looking bunch, he had to admit. Maybe one of his first attempts at being a sensei would get them to wear a little bit more color. Sure, black and grey are useful for shinobi business, but not required. His colleagues will surely make some way to make fun of him for it.

He nodded to himself, rubbing his goatee absently, elbow on his knee. "Alright. I'm done analyzing, you can relax now. I'm Kotaro Nara. I'll be your jonin sensei from now on. This is where we will meet up regularly, so make sure you don't get lost wondering around the compound or forest. The deer get anxious around strangers. I know who you all are, so introduce yourselves to each other. Goals, likes, dislikes, all that."

He peeked a lazy eye at the Aubrame, who spoke up first. He seemed to be talking to Suki and himself rather than Jun. "I'm Masao Aubrame. I'm hoping to one day be a jonin in the Tracking Corp like my father. Umm, I like barbecue and sour candy. I don't really dislike anything in particular, I guess people who complain a lot?"

Kotaro pretended not to notice the glare the two boys shared at the last remark. They were very companionable then. The black haired boy elbowed his teammate, starting his introduction before the silence got too awkward. "I'm Jun Jun. I wanna be a spy or something, maybe try for a position in torture and investigation? I don't know what my goals are yet, I guess. I like those little puzzle games, playing pranks, and fried rice. I hate sweet food, and getting nagged."

"Don't worry, Jun. we have plenty of time to figure out what Corp you want to join." He commented. Masao scoffed, muttering something he could barely hear before Jun elbowed him once again. It sounded suspiciously like "You'll end up in TI alright, but not on the good side."

He hid the smirk that threatened his bored facade. These kids were proving to be interesting. He turned to a quiet voice that spoke, belonging to none other than the mysterious Suki. She had snapped from her daze somewhere in their introductions.

The boys turned towards her, curiousity winning over their little argument. Thankfully they were at least somewhat interested in learning about their teammate. "I'm Suki Cho. I want to be... an ANBU Elite, I guess. That's the strongest title in the village, right? Save for the Hokage, of course. I like training, learning, and cherries. I hate pickled vegetables and trying to fall asleep. I know I'm young, but please do not underestimate me."

The similar-looking boys gave her a once-over, apparently deeming her acceptable. She looked prepared and capable.

Kotaro grinned widely at his cute new students. This next part was going to be a little fun. "Alright! Now that we all know each other, let's get down to the nitty gritty. This will be an assessment of sorts."

He stood from his place on the wooden log, removing a small trinket from his side pouch and holding it for them to see. It was a small lacquered wooden figurine of a money, squatting, with its furry arms held up in what looked like a prayer. "This, little genin, is a Macaque Monkey Charm. They're entirely plain. Two others are somewhere in the forest, either guarded or hidden. As Team 13, you'll be best suited for tracking, capture, and reconnaissance. Treat this as a trial run for future missions you may encounter."

He tried not to giggle at the serious looks dawning their faces. They were _so _much more cute than he thought they would be. He might actually enjoy this teaching gig.

"You have until midnight to complete this task. If you encounter resistance it will be up to you how much force you use. I only request you keep destruction to an absolute minimal. These are clan grounds, after all."

He gave a pointed look at the pouches on his female students thighs. He was _pretty _certain they contained at least one seal. He doesn't know how she would get her hands on any, but he doesn't dare doubt her capabilities, or his instinct.

The children shared uneasy glances, and Suki took a step closer towards the older boys in instinctive preparation, slightly impressing her sensei. She had a sixth sense for danger the boys seemed to lack. They had all been so focused on his directions, they forgot to pay attention to the shadows inching across the ground. With all of their shadows connected, he captured all three genin at once. Suki was the fastest to react, having been ridiculously on edge, but it was still too late.

He balanced the monkey totem carefully on his head as he slowly walked away, melding fluidly into the shadows. Their struggles were pitiful compared to some of the foes he had restrained. "I'll be keeping ahold of this one. When you obtain all three, or when the time runs out, you'll have passed this exercise."

His voice became disembodied as he disappeared completely. He reveled in the faces they made. So what if he was slightly sadistic? "If any one of you, at any point, are unable to continue, you fail!"

**Change POV**

Suki hadn't known true helplessness until she had been frozen by her sensei's family jutsu. Even as a child she had at least been able to struggle, attempt to close her guard or protect her weak points. Now her guard was wide open. She fell to her knees when it was finally released, ignoring the tremble in her fist as she struggled back onto her feet.

Jun seemed rather flustered. He moved to sprint towards the direction their new sensei left in, but Masao caught hold of his wrist just in time. They had both managed to stay on their feet, unlike her. "Jun, wait a minute-"

"No! We have to get that charm right?! He has one!" Came an explosive reply. "We might lose him if we wait too long. He's a jonin!"

The taller boy sighed, pushing his hood from his face, revealing the shoulder-length chocolate brown hair gathered in a bun at the nape of his neck. "He's already gone, I can't sense him anywhere nearby. He must have killed the beetle I planted on him, my hive can't locate her. I'll send a search, we have plenty of time. If they don't find anything within a half hour we'll start looking with them. In the mean time, let's learn what our teammate can do, and let's tell her our abilities."

Jun sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. Suki watched the situation cautiously, not knowing what the proper course of action was. They both looked at her expectantly. She gulped, suddenly noticing how dirty her white tank top appeared. "I, uh, I can do the basic three jutsu."

Jun slouched from his pristine posture, rolling his eyes at her. Masao rubbed the back of his neck, and she could see in the twitch of his lip that he was trying to refrain from laughing. Blushing, she thought about what else she could do. "I can, uh, I mean, I know two different taijutsu styles. I was the best in my class at taijutsu. I'm... pretty good with kunai."

The short girl turned her blue eyes to the side as she tried to word herself carefully, not wanting to boast. In all honestly, she was a god with kunai. She could deflect them into multiple directions, and with ninja wire, her aim and precision was even more deadly. Her eyesight was sharp, and she spent a considerable amount of time to hone her reflexes enough to take advantage of it.

They seemed a bit more pleased with her continuation. Jun grumbled when he noticed yet another flaw in their plan. "You're the only one who came prepared. Masa-chan, remind me to never come unprepared again. Speaking of which, you seem like you have kunai to spare. Mind lending me a few? I can set traps once we find sensei or the other charms. That's my specialty. I also specialize in intel gathering, but that's a subtle art that you probably wouldn't appreciate."

He gave her a cocky grin. Nodding, she ignored his oozing self-confidence and forked over four kunai and her only roll of ninja wire. He dropped two into one of the many pockets adorning his shorts, palmed one and handed the other to Masao. Suki hesitated for a second, before sharing another tool she had at their disposal. "I also have these," she slipped her scarred palm into her white side pouch, pulling out a small envelope that contained six tags. Three explosive tags and three flash tags.

Jun whooped, notably excited. "Nice, Su-chan! I knew there was something I liked about you. How'd you get ahold of these babies?! You must be a sneaky little bugger."

Masao grinned at his teams enthusiasm. "Now now, Jun. It's better not to ask how she obtained them. Why? Plausible deniability."

They shared a mischievous looking smirk, before turning to their new partner in crime. Thrown off guard by the sudden change in mood, Suki only slightly flinched when they threw their arms over her shoulders and formed a huddle, Masao throwing her hood over her head. She was only slightly miffed. Her name was already short enough, it didn't need to be any shorter, and the hood was too large as it hid her vision. She threw her hood back again, ignored her messed up hair, and cracked her knuckles in anticipaticion as they conspired. The tallest boy had to crouch slightly to reach the other twos' matching height, but it worked. She froze for a moment, confused. "Wait, why are we in a kickball huddle?"

Her teammates nodded seriously in unison, with Jun explaining to her, "If we put all of our heads together, we'll have three times the brain power."

Suki ignored the first-year level logic, simply indulging them. The black haired boy didn't stop speaking. "Right now we're relying on you, Masa-chan. You're our tracker, also the largest of us, and have good long range capabilities. Su-chan and I will be distraction and defense. Since you probably have the most chakra, you'll be able to last longer than Su and I in a battle of endurance, like this is seeming to be."

Masao shook his head in disagreement, pushing the black spectacles up his nose. "Actually, JuJu, Suki almost has as much chakra as I do. And she said she knows more taijutsu than us, her stamina probably outclasses both of ours. Looks can be deceiving. She was only a year below us after all."

The boys turned to face her, doubt painted on their features. She could almost read their minds. Glaring, she met their gazes. "Yes, I'm capable! I said I was the best in my class at taijutsu, didn't I? I promise I can keep up, if not beat both your asses at once."

Jun cracked another mischievous smile and chuckled, slipping four of the flash tags and explosive seals from her envelope and sharing them with Masao. "Whatever you say, Su~chan! What are those seals anyways? I can't tell."

Rubbing the back of her head, she sighed, trying to explain it as simple as possible. "You got excited over something you didn't even understand? Ridiculous. You can at least tell the difference in ink strokes, right? The ones with more space between the lines is a flash tag. It only flashes on the side with the ink, so stay on the right side of the tag unless you want to get blinded. The ones with a ton of close lines are explosive tags, be careful, they're live. You both know how to activate seals, right?"

Masao slapped her back roughly. "Of course we do. You're awesome! Sorry we didn't think to bring our own gear, we won't rely on you next time. I think you should be the one on offense when we find the charms, JuJu and I will be support. Neither of us are particularly talented at taijutsu, so it's up to you to try and grab the charms. Just try to last as long as possible so my kikaichu bugs can drain their chakra! Sensei might be a tough opponent, but if we work together, we just might be able to impress him."

She nodded, trying to ignore the disappointment in her gut. Those tags had been a bitch and a half to knick, and she probably wasn't going to get them back if they managed to track down their sensei. She had spent hours collecting left over kunai from the training grounds. She hoped she would have extra, but it wasn't looking like it.

Jun didn't seem to protest Masao's idea at all. Slipping her own tags back into her hip pouch, she regarded the Aubrame curiously. "Have they found anything?"

He shrugged his shoulders, finally breaking the huddle they fell into. They seemed to be in agreement on their plan of action. "Not particularly, but they found some sort of chakra residue a click east. We should head that way so I can inspect closer."

Thankfully they only wasted ten or so minutes on their plan, and it only took them five to arrive at the destination of the "residual chakra".

Masao crouched in front of a bush, trying to find any disturbance. There were no tracks or anything to indicate someone had come through. Suki crouched next to him, curious. "What does it feel like?"

He glanced at her cautiously before obliging her question. "It feels like someone _just_ used a jutsu here. I can't tell exactly how long ago. But I can't find any sign of a jutsu being used anywhere around this area."

He stood, bringing his hands together in a seal and shouted "KAI!"

But nothing happened.

Suki bit her lip, rolling her hands around each other. "What about... earth jutsu? Could the charm be buried?"

Jun scoffed, turning his back to them. "Or it could just be something to throw us off the trail." Masao seemed to agree, readying to continue their search. Suki ignored him and studied the ground, scuffing it with her toes here and- there!

She crouched on the balls of her feet, digging into the soil. It seemed slightly softer here, and there was the smallest divot in the ground. Before long, a small monkey totem emerged. Jun skipped over and plucked it out of her dirty palm. "Well, I guess I'll eat my words next time."

Masao clapped her on the back, "Woah! That was actually pretty cool, we would've walked right passed it! Nice work Suki! By the way, looks like my kikaichu have found a small structure nearby that has the same residue, but stronger. should we go check it out?"

Suki dusted the dirt off her hands as she nodded, a small smile adorning her chubby cheeks from the praise she received. She had first been nervous that her teammates would look down on her for being younger, but her fears had been unjustified. These boys seemed kind.

Jun slipped the totem into another one of his many pockets, looking at the sky as he did so. "It's only 9:30 or so. We only have two and a half hours. We should hurry, I feel like tracking Sensei will be our hardest challenge."

"It's four or so clicks away, we should move immediately." Masao agreed. The three of them started, the sensor of the squad leading the way, with Jun and Suki flanking.

It didn't take long before they arrived at a small shrine, a small monkey balanced precariously on the point of a pyramid roof. They kicked up a cloud of dust as they slid to a stop in the wide dirt clearing. Immediately, Suki felt on edge. "Wait, something's not right here."

Jun, who had taken a few steps towards their objective, paused in thought. He must've noticed the same prickling feeling she did. Yet he was still the slowest to react when someone swiped at them from the tree above.

They all managed to duck in time, with Jun falling to his bottom roughly. Suki immediately scanned the treetops, trying to catch a glimpse of their assailant. She saw a flash of silver. "THERE!"

Bringing a set of kunai from her thigh holster, she waited for them to reveal themselves once more. Masao and Jun scrambled to back her, covering her blind spots as she did theirs in a basic academy formation. Jun was panicking, eyes darting to and fro. "Wait, you saw them? What'd they look like?"

"I couldn't get a good look, they're fast and hiding behind the trees. I only saw a flash of silver." She explained. Masao nodded at her, donning a serious expression that looked foreign on his normally cheerful demeanor. "I'm trying to plant a beetle, but he's too fast. He's dancing around my hive like it's nothing. I'm going to bring them back to conserve my chakra."

Suki cursed. Their went their main plan.

Another a rustle of leaves came from her right but she ignored it, focusing instead on the hint of silver she barely caught in her left peripheral vision. Two kunai flung from her grip before she could blink, the matte black metal singing as they left her palms. They cluttered together, before diverging in different directions. The kunai she was _sure _had followed him thunked harmlessly into a tree. She sighed in disappointment, palming two more weapons. "Hey! You said you were only _pretty_ good with kunai. That was great!"

"This isn't the time for that. Hand me some of that ninja wire I gave you earlier." He seemed slightly miffed at her demanding tone, and after a moment she tacked on a sheepish "Please?"

He handed her the free end and she took the length she needed, hanging the long loops of metal around her forearm. She would need a lot of wire for this. Masao was looking at her oddly, watching as she worked to tie a kunai on one end of her ridiculously long wire behind their backs so their opponent couldn't see. "What are you doing? We don't have a lot of time if we want to find the last charm. We just need to grab this one and go."

She gave him a side glance, putting a kunai between her teeth as she focused on not cutting her fingers on the sharp wire. She tied a complicated looking knot. She has never tried this move, or even knew if it was practical. She just hoped their opponent was underestimating her as much as she was overestimating herself. After finishing she palmed her other kunai, tying the other end of wire around it. She answered him when she was done. "Just cover me. He's guarding it right? He'll only attack me when I make a move for the monkey. Look, he's just circling us right now. This won't take long. If we get the charm, we hightail it and start planning on finding sensei. If I fail we can retreat and come up with another idea."

Before he could protest, she was already gone. It wasn't a very big clearing, but she still couldn't make it very far before she was stopped. She was right when she assumed she would need nearly half the roll of wire for this. She had barely made it half way when their opponent finally showed himself, landing aggressively in front of her in a primal crouch.

It wasn't human. It was a silver beast, with glossy grey fur and beady black eyes. Its face and hands were bald, revealing calloused skin covered in scars and wrinkles. He had the bushiest eyebrows she had ever seen sitting atop his protruding forehead. His muscle definition was not lost under all of his fur. This was the biggest and most terrifying fucking monkey Suki had ever seen.

They had small moneys that often picked through the trash bins around Konoha, she couldn't remember their real name, but they had been the only primate she had ever seen until now. In an accurate comparison, those small monkeys were the size of a newborn baby next to the grizzly bear of an ape in front of her.

She skidded, stopping only feet away. She could smell the forest on him. As ridiculously long arms reached for her, she realized she didn't want to know what would happen if that meaty palm grabbed her. She enacted her plan, and the next few moments went by in slow motion, although it really happened in a span of a few seconds. Suki threw both of her kunai at the beast, missing. She could make out a smirk that had started to take form on its ugly wrinkled face, but it vanished into one of shock as he heard a "_ka-thunk" _and watched her tighten her fist and _tug_ around the wire he hadn't noticed her attach. He reached for the wire that slipped past him, but she had already tugged it out of his reach, putting her entire body weight into it and throwing herself away from him, getting as much distance as possible in the single move.

The kunai had impaled the laquered wooden totem, and with a twirl, she sent it flying back towards her teammates. This still left her within his reach, though. Thankfully, he seemed to have forgotten about the second kunai she threw. While he was distracted, the other end of the wire arrived at just the right time, allowing her weaponry to loop around a tree, the shrine, and come at her opponent from the side in a slicing motion. He heard the whooshing of air a little too late.

The kunai sliced his shoulder, only making a shallow cut to what would have probably taken a humans arm off. It probably wouldn't have done much, if not for the flash tag attached, that went off at point-blank range. Ouch.

Suki used this as a distraction to scramble back and away, but before she realized it, he poofed away in a billow of smoke. It was apparently enough.

Coughing and waving the swirling jutsu byproduct from her face, she finally looked back at her teammates. Jun held the wooden monkey up high in the air, cheering. Masao laughed gleefully at him. She carefully stepped around the trails of wire she made as she ran, a trap in case he had come up from behind her, instead of the front.

Moral was at an all time high as they started on their search for their sensei. Jun was lagging before long, and they had to take breaks more often to compensate.

Civilian born ninja had a severe disadvantage at birth. There was no one to teach them chakra control or ninja rules, etiquette, and politics. Most were disgustingly unaware of the harsh truths of a shinobi society until it was shown to them first hand. They had a higher death rate compared to those born in major or minor clans (which are basically just large families with shinobi ancestry, such as the Hatake, Nohara, Lee, and Kurama clans to name a few. Major clans with dwindled members like the Uchiha, Senju, Sarutobi, and Shimura _would _be in this category, had they not served the village to such a degree). They were often stuck in the Genin Corp, once graduating from the academy. If one managed to prove themselves in the academy, they were put on a jonin team and became track genin like the rest of the clan kids. They had a better chance for a chunin promotion like this, but rarely advanced further than that either way. There was 5 civilian-born jonin... from 205 total.

Suki, being the self-aware child she was, immediately noticed the discrepancies. As an orphan, rather capable and independent, she was often left to her own devices. Once she taught herself to read (it took a couple years of badgering the older girls to read for her so she could memorize the kanji. They often indulged the cute little blue-eyed girl), it was game over. She inhaled information like a black hole. She stole the daily newspaper from her caretakers whenever they were done with it, learning about her village and the issues it faced. What the civilians were complaining about and what recent tragedy (or victory) that graced our military.

She read the history books, trying to see past most of the blatant propaganda to peer into the true details. She couldn't glean much, but it was enough for her to understand that this society was practically in infant stages compared to her memories from _before, _although the core issues remained the same. They tended to be the same in most societies. Misogyny, racism/elitism, poverty, and corruption was just as prominent here as it was everywhere _before. _It made the gaping differences slightly easier to grasp. It gave her a different perspective.

So she trained her best with the materials she had at her disposal. As a smaller child, she bothered the older academy children to teach her their taijutsu forms. Most refused, except for Kabuto Yakushi, not an orphan but one of the caretakers children. He taught her kata from his own family scrolls he had been learning from. They had been thick as thieves as children, but he had cut her off harshly when he had started medical training with his mother. He had no time for playing games with children, he explained. She didn't hold it against him. He had done enough for her by teaching her the style, even if it required to stretch every morning to increase her flexibility, and if she missed his company. The irony of him looking down on her age, when she had years of experience on him, was kept locked away in the depths of her mind.

When she first entered the academy and lived on her own, she had managed to trick the genin assigned to teaching her how to "take care of herself" in home care education (honestly the boy probably could cook just as much as she could) into tutoring her on the basic academy kata and exercises, which she performed religiously. The kata were much easier than the first style she learned, less flexible, focused more on blocking and delivering powerful force rather than feints and precise attacks. He probably only indulged her because she caught on fast.

She went to the public library in her free time, reading about a variety of topics. It was mostly a cover for her random knowledge, she reasoned to herself, but she enjoyed it even if she already knew some of the things she was reading. The few basic medical texts they had were her favorite.

Apparently, with the help of chakra and the mind of the great Slug Sanin, Konoha was quite medically advanced.

TL;DR: Suki worked her ass off. As soon as she had learned about shinobi, and the existence of chakra, it's like she found the missing puzzle piece, and this world felt like it made sense for once. It made sense for her to be a ninja. She didn't question it, it just was. There was no motive outside of the fact she felt it in her blood. The way sharp objects sung in her grip would be dangerous in most civilian occupations. She could imagine herself as a seamtress, accidentally poking her clients multiple times just from the satisfaction. Playing mind games when she haggled for better prices on silks. Or as a politician, fighting for better civilian treatment and actual resources for civilian born ninja to improve themselves. Or even as a gardener, working with the yanamakas, learning about flowers and herbs (and poisons) among other things. Yes, it was much safer for others sanity if she became a shinobi.

Although if it didn't work out, being a seamtress wouldn't be too awful. Something to think about.

**Change POV**

Kotaro was shocked. They had found the first two charms within an hour. He hadn't chosen his strongest monkey summon, and he _had _told Buro to disperse after a solid hit, but he didn't expect it to be so easy, and for them to _blind him, _even if temporarily. If you ignored the recklessness of her plan, it was impressive.

Their teamwork was also something that stumped him. He hadn't expected them to get along so well. There had yet to be any strife. They all shared ideas and information, if a disagreement occurred it happened peacefully and resolved diplomatically. The more physically fit two didn't have a problem with their lagging teammate as they searched for his hiding spot, or if they did, they kept it to themselves. Their search pattern was inefficient, but practical enough considering the possibility of enemies and the general cautiousness that came with being in unknown territory.

Maybe he should have put more pressure on them. Threatened them with something. He made a motion to rub his goatee, but refrained. He didn't wanna get mud smeared in it.

His hiding place was much cooler than the world above him. He was underground, using a high ranked Nara technique to see through the shadows and observe his students.

They completely overlooked his little hint. They wouldn't look underground _twice. _He had honestly expected them to split up before now, but it's almost like the idea hadn't even occurred to them. It was like teamwork came to them naturally. The plan was to pick them off once they were separated, but that wasn't happening.

He watched as they searched for him until the moon was directly above them. The trio made their way back to the training grounds, quite dejected at their failure. To be fair, they only had one capable tracker at the moment. But he would change that. Suki's vision was spectacular, he would teach her the traditional tracking by sight, and since she showed promise, maybe even chakra sensing. Jun didn't have the aptitude for it, but that wasn't his role anyways. He was the distraction and capture. He would be learning a different skill set as support.

Masao was very well-rounded as it is, he could focus on improving his tracking as his teammates caught up to his skill level. While Kotaro hadn't tried taking it easy on them (not even close), he also didn't expect them to completely dismiss the idea of him being underground.

They would probably be so disappointed they completely overlooked that possibility. He held back a chuckle at the faces he imagined them making. None of them were able to sense his jonin-level reserves, which he wasn't exactly hiding. He just had a minor genjutsu to confuse the kikaichu, which his Yamanaka genin teammate had shared with him. He noticed how Suki's vision would flicker over his underground hiding places occasionally, despite her obviously not knowing why.

Yeah, Suki would be learning chakra sensing. Either that or her instincts are on par with a chunin. She was mean with those kunai, so he could probably teach her another weapon? Maybe he could convince his aunt to tutor her on the tessen. He was definitely teaching her another taijutsu style. The girl didn't look like the average taijutsu specialist, but he saw the potential in her figure. She wasn't lithe or petite like most kunoichi tended to be at this age. She had powerful legs and arms, a solid frame. Most chunin knew at least three, so she was ahead of her teammates in that area. She will have to learn a few genjutsu too, at _least _one to help out Jun.

Jun was the most complicated of the three. His trapping and taijutsu skills were average at best. He basically had zero potential for tracking or sensing. His low reserves ruled him out as a ninjutsu specialist. He would have to pair him with Suki often in spars, hopefully she'll help him catch up in the physical department. He could call in a favor with an old teammate to teach him more about trapping and genjutsu? That would be most beneficial.

Masao, although more advanced than the other two, was still lacking in some areas. His sensing could definitely be improved. He was most suitable as their ninjutsu specialist, so Kotaro should probably get ahold of some chakra paper to tell the boys' chakra type. Then they could start on elemental transformation, maybe even learn a few E-rank elemental skills. He hadn't seen his taijutsu, but knew it was at least be passable. He _was _a clan kid. He always had his clan techniques to work on, too. His bugs _should, _in theory, have noticed him following them around after so long. Or maybe he

made the genjutsu too strong? He hasn't exactly mastered it yet.

The general plan of action made some of the anxiety about his decision to accept the team fade. It helped that they were already becoming a pod of peas.

He tried not to feel guilty about having his friends and family help him, but honestly failed. He was one of the few Nara who hadn't been on a countless number of capture missions. This new assignment will probably change that. They needed a different skill set from him, and his skill sets didn't really suit any of them anyways. Easier for him, in the long run.

He was a Nara, after all. He was pretty lazy sometimes.


	3. Foreboding

Suki shivered again, thankful she had worn a full hoodie over her tank top and plain black ninja pants taped at the bottom instead of her usual cropped hoodie, skirt, and shorts. It was _freezing _in Ame. Her team was thoroughly soaked, and their entourage had just barely entered the small country. Their current resting spot was under a rocky overhang large enough to fit everybody, leaving the carts, carriages, and horses in the rain. There were three smokeless fires made (with a special kind of wood the Nara clan grew in their forest), where the civilians and merchants lounged around as the shinobi took turns to replenish/relieve themselves.

Team 13 was one of three teams sent to the Amegakure Chunin Selection Exams. Suki, Jun, and Masao felt they were more than ready. They had performed outstandingly, never failing a single mission given to them. Kotaro-senei always teased them, saying it was because 13 was his lucky number, so of course team 13 would get all of the best missions. He might have to eat his words. This mission was proving to be most miserable.

At twelve, Suki had matured a small bit from graduation a year ago. The most notable difference was her hair, which had gotten longer, now brushing her collarbone on one side and her shoulder on the other. She didn't mind how uneven it was, if anything, she loved it. Her solid frame was changing, wide hips and shoulders now connected with a curving waist where her boxy sides used to be. She had to wear a training bra now, which normally annoyed her, but here it was just an extra layer of warmth. Her muscles, hidden underneath her slightly baggy clothing, were now almost considered unladylike by some of the population, but she didn't care much for their opinions. She was in top form.

One of the two fans strapped to the inside of her forearm rubbed uncomfortably against her wrist as she put away her drawing notebook and searched for a ration bar. She made note to readjust it that night so it wouldn't impede her performance during the test. She would do it now, but the convoy didn't have much time to rest at the moment.

They were tasked with escorting a few merchants and nobles to the chunin exams as well, so they had to leave Konoha _much_ earlier than they would have initially. This was the first year the small country would be hosting the event, and it seemed to be quite the hype.

Thankfully, everyone was just as miserable as her, so she didn't feel alone. She tried to ignore the damp outer fabric of her hoodie, thankful for the fact that ninja clothes were insulated on the inside for situations like these, and she could finally afford them with her new paychecks.

Jun was standing next to her, blocking the wind, watching the forest, observing how the rain whipped wildly in different directions. He had added compression leggings under his cargo shorts and a long sleeved shirt under his normal T-shirt for warmth. He had gotten a lot taller, now almost as tall as Masao, who had ask grown slightly. His once messy, untamed black hair was now more soft-looking and managed. The fourteen year old had gotten very popular with the ladies, leaving Suki to wonder exactly why.

Masao, who had gone off a few minutes ago for god knows what reason, wore a heavier Aubrame cloak than the usual lightweight fabric designed for the heat and humidity of the Land of Fire. He was probably the warmest of them all. The towering boy had only gotten taller, now dwarfing her small form. He reminded her of a bamboo stalk. His once long hair was now trimmed, about as long as Jun's. They looked a lot alike with the similar hairstyle, someone could mistake them as brothers with a very different fashion sense.

Jun sighed, throwing his arms behind his head in a relaxed pose. "This freakin' blows man. I didn't think the Land of Rain would be _this _rainy."

His blue-eyes teammate scoffed, squatting on the balls of her feet. She would sit down, but she didn't want to get her butt wet. "I expected this much rain, I didn't expect it to be this cold and windy. Think Masa-kun would let me borrow his cloak?"

"Ha! Not a chance. We're only hours away. He'd tell you to stick it out." He replied. Masao walked up behind them, slapping a heavy hand onto Jun's back. Jun only barely held his balance. "Right you are, JuJu! Don't worry Su-chan, we'll be there before you know it. Anyways, when I was walking back, I heard one of the other teams talking, the one with the three dudes? I stopped to listen a little. They said this is their third time testing."

Suki sprung to her feet, about-facing towards the Aubrame, immediately interested. She met his eyes, or where they should be behind his black tinted glasses. "Taking a page from my book? I thought I was the eves-dropper. Did they say anything interesting?"

Jun leaned an elbow on her shoulder, taking a subtle glance at the people in question. All three looked around 16, probably just a promising team from the Genin Corp trying to climb into the Chunin Corp. Masao lowered his voice as he continued, "I wouldn't have brought it up if they didn't. Apparently, the tests keep a general theme. The first exam should be a written test, the second should be some sort of mission simulation, and the third is _always_ a one versus one ladder style competition. The third exam is why we're escorting all these merchants and civilians, apparently the betting pool is huge and since Ame doesn't offer a lot for trade they're using the chance to make some money. That means they must have genin they're confident in. You don't think they'd rig the exams with chunin-level contestants, do you?"

Suki shook her head, tapping a finger to the freckle below her eye, like she normally did when she was thinking. "It's their first year hosting, I don't think they'd want to risk getting caught. I do see their genin being powerful, though, since they will want to make a good first impression. I bet they're more excited about all these merchants and nobles visiting. A lot of their focus will be on how they can make some cash. Their economy isn't the best right now, after all. They couldn't afford a scandal." It made sense, putting some Konoha-made goods into the market might also open up channels for trade. Ame was a struggling nation, and this exam is definitely boosting their economy. Suki ran a hand through her damp black hair, slicking it back from her face. "I don't think we should plan this one out, honestly. We can keep all that in mind, but we have no idea what's in store for us. Any plan could be rendered completely useless as soon as the exams start."

Masao rubbed his chin, reminding her eerily of their sensei. "Fair enough. Doesn't say we can't mess with the competition when we get there though. What do you say guys? Maneuver 2 or 17?"

Jun giggled next to her, finding the idea hilarious. Their "maneuvers" were pre-planned personas they would assume to trick their enemies into making assumptions on their team roles, used in their information gathering missions. For example, in maneuver 2, Suki would act as a "trap". She would pretend to be the weak link, with the boys protecting her. Sensei had taught her a few long-range jutsu, so she could _act _like she was long-range support when she was really their frontline fighter. When someone actually made a move close enough, she could destroy them in taijutsu or distract them with a minor genjutsu long enough for her teammates to jump in. It was the meaneuver that succeeded the most, helped by her unassuming facade and sharp skills. No one would be able to tell she was even a shinobi, if it weren't for the little scars that littered her body. A simple genjutsu fixed that easily. She could look every bit the weak rookie genin, afraid to see action, or even a curious but naive civilian girl, unaware of the dangers that lurk around her.

Maneuver 17, on the other hand, was a little more complex. Suki would assume the role as "leader" to throw off observers. Two older and strong seeming boys listening to a small, weak girl makes the observer question her abilities. She was still pretty much the bait in this scenario, with all of the attention focused on her before Jun traps them in genjustsu and Masao drains their chakra. In fact, she was the bait in most scenarios. She should have a talk with Kota-sensei about that.

She understood the practicality of it, but she was tired of attacks always being focused on her... even if she secretly enjoyed smashing her foot or fist in their faces when it was all said and done.

"Remember the last time we tried M2? Su scarred that poor Chunin we were with," Jun cackled, ignoring the glare the aforementioned kunoichi leveled at him. "The look on his face when he saw you punch that bandit in the throat was hilarious!"

She pushed his elbow off her shoulder, grimacing at the memory. It was one of the few missions they had gone on without Kotaro-sensei, and probably the most memorable. They made her dress up as a child and stand in the woods to wait for their target to appear. He had been known to prey on children, so a lost child was almost a dream come true. Until he found a fist in his windpipe.

She didn't know if it was because she was younger, or a girl, or if they just wanted to protect her from the pain they both experienced, but it was a rare mission they let her be in the thick of the action. They often stepped in and "helped" or "saved" her before she even got to lay a finger on her enemies. Her boys were holding her back, even killing for her, which was ridiculously unnecessary. She could defend herself. She doesn't complain, though, knowing it would only start another argument. They both knew perfectly well how she felt, but still won't change.

The caravan started to pack up, so they returned to their positions and waited. Soon enough, they started back on their way. Rain country was barely five percent the size of Fire, so it wouldn't take them nearly as long to reach their hidden village as it had to reach the Rain/Fire border.

Her assumptions were correct, as they arrived four hours later, their weeks long journey finally coming to a close. When the village gates came into view, the stressed and irritable atmosphere immediately lifted. The civilians were happy to finally reach their destination and get out of the cold rain, and the ninja were happy to finally be rid of the civilians.

There was a gate kiosk that checked all of the civilians passes as the shinobi waited, before they were let loose into the village to explore as they pleased. The Konoha shinobi watched and waited until everyone was checked in safely before going to a different kiosk and signing in for the chunin exams. Kota-sensei, who had been missing in action past week, finally appeared to guide them through the process. The guard who checked them seemed to be paying too much attention to the chunin hopefuls, observing them and sizing up their abilities. Which was rather rude, not only in ninja etiquette, just in general. Kota-sensei gave the trio a glance, only briefly, but they understood the instruction behind it: be careful. That glance was shared between the three, and they subltly changed positions so she, the smallest and shortest, was more protected. It almost felt like she had two large bodyguards behind her, and she almost chuckled at the thought, turning to share it with said boys, but the humor completely drained from her when she saw who arrived after them.

How lucky was Konoha that an Iwa troupe arrived on the scene, jumping from a nearby bamboo forest and into the clear space before the gigantic gateway. Half of the Fire nations' ninja were still being shuffled along in line, the other half waiting on the other side of the gates to be led to their accommodations. The air in the vicinity shivered with tension, and Kota-sensei had a strict look on his face that his poor students didn't recognize. Suki stood straight, opening her senses and counting how many there were without looking. Their chakra was distinctive, along with the Rain shinobi.

Her nations shinobi often had flickering chakra, like a fire. Fitting, of course. Stronger chakra burned like light shining straight in your eyes, while the weaker chakra glowed like candlelight. She was surrounded by strong Rain chakra, which felt like rumbling storms, thunder and strobeflashes of brightness.

The strongest Rock shinobi chakra felt at the moment was pure earth, she almost couldn't describe it. It reminded her of her past life, the feeling she got when she fell from an extreme height, watching the ground rush towards her. It's only then she realized how hard it looked, how unforgiving it would be if she actually landed. Just when she thought she was going to _splat, _the bungee cord brought her right back up. But sbe always remembered how the ground looked as it rushed towards her, even having nightmares about the cord breaking. The weaker of the Rock chakra was like a gravel road, unstable and bumpy, ready to slide around or give out under too much pressure. She filtered out the abundance of the thunderstorm and fiery chakra to focus on the hard earth.

There were almost twice the amount of Iwa genin than there were Konoha. 17 genin with three instructors, bringing their total to 20 compared to Konoha's 13, including their single ANBU guard that Suki wasn't technically supposed to know about.

She only knew because her sensing had actually become quite sharp, and she had been curious as to where their sensei had been sneaking off to in the past week. She resigned to respect his privacy and not tell her teammates about his little romps (he had enough trouble finding action when they weren't being brats), but she did tell them about the guard. She knew hiding how strong her sensing has gotten would be useful.

Now she had blackmail.

The Rain shinobi, sensing the obvious tension, seemed to make every delay possible from then on to prolong the interaction. Being last in line, her team got the brunt of the leers and stares from their village rivals. It also didn't help that she was probably the youngest and smallest of all the genin present. They were definitely a target now, and she cursed to herself. She already predicted this outcome, but not for it to feel quite this intimidating.

She resigned to play along, making herself even smaller and meek-looking. The boys caught on and shared a glance, agreeing on a plan of action. Maneuver 2 it is then.

Jun shuffled closer, one hand twitching towards his kunai pouch while Masao ruffled her ashy grey-black hair, pretending to comfort her. She made sure to fake a blush, something a "lady of the night" had taught her. No need to ask how they met, or what else had been taught that night. That's a story for another day.

She fluttered her blue eyes at the guard as he finally reached them, trying to seem intimidated. His boyish face and lazy stare was anything but. She made nervous movements like tucking her hair behind her ear and rubbing her thumbs together, putting on her best act.

He seemed a little too suspicious of her, although she supposed that's just his job. Soon, they were all herded through the gate. Not before an Iwa genin threw a stray comment, slicing the tension like butter only for it to return tenfold.

He was young, but really lucked out on the genetic lottery. He was ugly, with chicklet teeth and a receded hairline that wasn't quite covered by the blonde hair he brushed forwards. He had a deep-set mouth, with chubby cheeks that definitely didn't compliment his ugly scowl. He was on the shorter side, but still taller than her. His voice was high-pitched and grated on her ears as he spoke directly to her team, "Iwa puts down Konoha dogs. Just remember that."

Ahhh, a reference to a recent bounty Iwa had taken of a rogue Konoha nin. She was glad she kept up to date on such things, or she wouldn't have really understood. They must be pretty proud of themselves for that. Jun threw him a glare, but we moved on wordlessly.

Ignoring the taunt, they moved to follow their group to the hotel, hopefully very far from where Iwa was placed. The village looked nothing like she imagined. There were tarps and overhangs everywhere, blocking most of the rain and channeling it into runoffs that probably led to a water treatment or irrigation center. There were small waterfalls everywhere, and bridges that crossed over both small and large man-made rivers. It was almost ethereal looking, with moss growing on almost every building side and even hanging from the taller surfaces where it had built up over years and years. There was still a slight misting in the air from all the waterfalls and the few spots where the rain got through, but it wasn't nearly as wet inside the village as they were expecting. Suki felt a small degree of claustrophobia though, as there were walls on all sides basically 24/7, and the rain tarps blocked most of the sky. Escape routes were few, putting the entire Konoha entourage on edge. Hopefully the exams wouldn't be held IN the village, because Suki would go crazy.

They finally arrived at their hotel and were led to a dingy room, where Suki immediately peeled off her soaking clothes. Each team was given a unit with two bunk beds and a small kitchenette, an attached bathroom to the side, and an open closet with no door. A Hyuuga sensei from one of the teams did an inspection on all of the rooms to make sure nothing was fishy before they entered.

Kota-sensei has been on edge since the Iwa teams arrived on scene with an aura around him that even Jun could feel, the team member with the worse sensing capabilities. He finally spoke when they all sat together on one of the beds, already anticipating a talk coming. His voice had a commanding tone that they had never heard, the Nara was normally much more laid back than this. "You three can't hold back. And you two can _not _hold Suki back. If she has to kill someone in these exams, to protect herself or to protect either of you, let her. She is fully capable. Am I understood?"

Juns' fist tightened so loud the creak in his joints was audible, and on the other side of him she could recognize the sudden stiffness in Masao's figure as a sign of protest. Neither of them argued with the order though, simply sharing a glance and trying to relax. Their sensei continued, ignoring their reactions.

"I feared you may have been targeted, but I'm honestly afraid of how far they might go. Watch out for each other. Plan carefully and use everything I've taught you. I don't expect you to pass on your first try, I just want you to _survive_. Okay? People rarely pass on their first attempt. And some never make it back to the village. Treat this as an A-Rank mission from yours truly."

He took a deep breath, closed his eye and rubbed his cheek stubble with a nervous hand. "We were told to inform our teams that once the test was started, there is no forfeiting. You have to continue until you either lose, become unable to continue, or die."

Masao scoffed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, finding the idea odd. He had shed his cloak, now just wearing a T-shirt and pants similar to Jun's. "What are they gonna do if we try?"

The Nara shook his head solemnly, making direct eye contact with his student through the dark glasses. "I wouldn't want to find out if I were you. That's it for now, get some rest."

The three didn't complain, still quite exhausted from their journey. They were glad they arrived a week and a half early to rest, recuperate, plan, and observe their opposition. It was going to be a bumpy month ahead of them, and they needed to be mentally and physically prepared to deal with it as a unit. They had to approach this test like Chunin would to pass.

The days flew by, with the three of them often left alone as their sensei went off and did god knows what with their ANBU guard. They left the hotel room to find food, but otherwise kept themselves locked away together like hermits. Their nerves were growing every passing day in the foreign village, but they tried to stay positive and productive anyways. Suki found herself breaking up more small arguments between the boys, but she knew when the time came, they would work together as seamlessly as they had since day one.

Suki drew on a small notepad when she got too bored, putting the beautiful village she saw onto paper. She had to admit she wished Konoha was this pretty, although she could do without all the dampness. They boys, as always, were impressed with her ability to take in enough detail to replicate entire landscapes.

Masao and Jun were relaxing on the bed across from her as she finished drawing one of the decorated bridges they saw earlier in the day when they caught her attention, once again wanting to conspire and plan for their test that was to begin tomorrow. Masao had his glasses and cloak off, leaving him in the warm looking black jumpsuit he often wore underneath. Jun was in his normal clothes, with his shoes off and placed neatly under the bed. Suki was in her pajamas already, an oversized white hoodie she stole from Juns' pack and blue leggings that had started to fray at the ankles from overuse.

Despite her fancy new paychecks, old habits die hard, and Suki hates to waste perfectly good clothes. Even if they're falling apart.

Masao was relaxed in the bottom bunk with his arms crossed behind his head while Jun was halfway off the top bunk, precariously leaning off and looking at Suki with an upside down smile. Small purple and red bugs crawled around the room, exploring and memorizing all the scents they could find. He had a whole unit out scouting the village, which would hopefully give us a head start.

The bug boy himself gave her a glare when she swatted at a beetle trying to crawl into her hair, she ignored him to listen to Jun, who was probably the most nervous of the three. "So, Su~ki, what are you gonna do if we all get separated? We gotta have contingency plans, you know."

She scoffed, swiping away the bangs that had fallen into her face. "You should be the only one worried about that. You're the only on on the team who can't use chakra sensing. Masao and I would be just fine."

"Fair. I'm just worried. What if something happens to you?" He dropped his smile, face going serious. Suki met his gaze, trying not to glare or make it seem like she took offense to his words.

Technically, she was stronger than him. She knew it, Masao knew it, sensei knew it, but it still seemed like Jun looked down on her for her gender and age. She hated that he didn't recognize her strength and the hard work it took to get there. She hated to let the resentment she felt fester, but she didn't know how to broach the subject without starting a fight. "I'll be fine, JuJu. Worry about yourself."

He caught the agitated tone in her voice, but thankfully didn't call her out. Masao broke the tension before it even had a chance to form. "We know that, it's just that we're a pretty big target here and you will definitely be the first they focus on."

Hazy blue eyes, normally dazed and slightly unfocused, were unnervingly sharp as they turned towards the brown haired boy. "And that's exactly the point. Is this not what we've been training for all year? Is that not one of the tactics we agreed upon? Don't underestimate me."

He flinched away, not liking her demeaning gaze. "You look like my mom when you look at me like that. It's kinda creepy. Anyways, I promise it's not that we underestimate you. I guess it just feels different. Jun and I have a bad feeling about this test, and we're just trying to cover our bases."

Scoffing, she laid back in her bed and faced the wall, pulling the covers up and over her shoulder. "We're team 13 remember? We have the best luck, don't worry so much."

The small comment seemed to slightly tame their anxieties, and they all settled in for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and they needed their rest.

The next morning found Kotaro shaking them awake, quietly handing them each a kunai with a purple handle instead of the standard Konoha red. "These are special poisoned kunai, they're extremely deadly. Be sure not to cut yourself, there's no antidote."

He looked at his students' groggy forms, trying to visualize the students he had begun teaching a year ago. They were practically unrecognizable.

"I'm proud of how much you three have grown. As shinobi, and a family. Even if you don't get the promotion this time around, know that you three are definitely Chunin material. Act like it, and you'll do just fine." He grinned, a much softer expression on his bearded face than they had seen since they arrived in Ame a week ago.

Team 13 shared a look, a competitive spark ignited inside of them. They would do their best to make their sensei and village proud.

Two hours later found them in a large underground arena. There was only two openings, the door to the outside foyer (which doubled as the exit), and a stairway entrance that took you deeper underground. Thankfully there was enough space for all the teams to spread out, avoiding most conflicts.

The three Konoha teams were definitely recieving the most attention. Jeers and obnoxiously loud comments were hurled at them, making it obvious who they were targeting.

Suki caught the look Jun and Masao shared, and tried to ease their nerves. She spoke quietly, trying not to provoke anyone that may have been eves-dropping "I guess we'll just have to show them what we Konoha dogs are capable of."

The attempt slightly cheered them up. She turned to the Aubrame, stepping closer to him for warmth. Even underground it still felt cold and damp. The action was more to hide their conversation from their opposition, though. "Masa, what all can you sense? Everyone's too close together for me."

His lip twitched. Suki couldn't tell what he was laughing at, but it was normal, so she ignored it. Jun kept his eyes trained behind her and Masao's back as he replied, watching for any suspicious movement made towards them. "There is, of course, nine Konoha genin in three squads. Nine Ame teams, with eighteen genin. Theres the seventeen Iwa genin split into four teams. Kiri has sixteen split into eight teams. Kusagakure sent nine genin split into three teams, one team of three from Taki, and three teams and nine genin from Suna. That leaves total attendees at only 81, much smaller amount than previous years."

Konoha was the only village to use three man teams as a standard, but Suna, Kusa, and Taki used them too. Those three villages had a lot of different sized teams, which was logical in Suki's opinion. It was more odd to her that the other villages had a standard team size.

Ame and Kiri normally group their shinobi into pairs, or go on solo missions. Iwa and Kumo teams normally consist of four genin, two senior and two rookie.

Three Konoha squads. Nine Ame squads. Four Iwa squads. Eight Kiri squads. Three Kusa squads. Three Suna teams. And a singular team from Taki. It was quite a low attendance by most village standards.

It didn't surprise her though. "Ame is such a small country, makes sense to have a smaller test than compared to Iwa, Kumo, or even home. Imagine having almost two hundred enemy shinobi in such a small area. It'd give them a heart attack. I'm actually surprised there's this many, I expected at least a couple more villages to skip this year, not just Kumo."

The two boys stiffened as an Ame shinobi walked to the front of the room, standing on a small podium that had previously been hidden from her view by the Kiri team standing in front of it. Their conversation, and all others, halted immediately. Suki sent a wary blue gaze to her companions, shuffling closer, as if nervous. They had to keep up their act. After a few beats of silence, the man spoke.

He was very plain looking, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. The uniform he was wearing told them he was a Jonin. His voice was deeper than she expected from the rather short man, and she focused on his words, "Welcome to the Ame Chunin Selection Exams. On behalf of our Amekage, I welcome you to our beautiful village."

A light applause broke out when he paused, and he waited for it to die down before continuing. "We hope you have all enjoyed your accommodations. This is the start of the exam. Ame has decided we won't use the whole month and a half normally given, instead, this exam will be done in two weeks time."

Murmers broke the growing tension, and Suki stood straighter at the news. Masao and Jun tensed at her sides. The black haired boy leaning slightly to whisper in her ear, "That's way faster than we expected. Do you think-"

He was cut off as the examiner continued, his baritone voice silencing all conversation. "The first exam will test your ability to listen and follow orders. You will be led to a room, alone, where you are given instructions. You will have no contact with your teammates whatsoever. If any of your teammates fail, you all fail. You will not be provided food or drink, should the exam extend beyond a reasonable time limit. You will not be allowed to quit. Once the exam has started, you have to finish it. No mission can be quit half way through, and this exam is a reflection of that. If any team wishes to forfeit, this will be your only time to do so."

There was a lot of protest. One echoing voice rose among the rest. "Wait a minute, if our teammate fails, we do too?! How is that fair?!"

The man scoffed, and acted like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "On some mission you have to depend on the actions of your teammates, even if you can't communicate. On some missions you will be separated, and you will have to depend on each other to finish your assignments from miles apart. Some missions will test your loyalty, to your team, and to your village. Some will test your sanity. If you're not ready for that, the door is right behind you."

As dark haired girl suspected, no one left.

"All right. We will call your names one by one. Please follow your proctor to your examination room and listen to their directions."

Suki, being as prepared as she was, had a scroll in her pouch full of survival needs such as granola bars and water. In a huddle, she quickly rationed them out. Juns' cocky smile made observers glare in their direction. He winked at her as he took his share, smiling as Masao as he spoke, "We're lucky to have her, aren't we Ma~sa! Who else would have brought all this but our little paranoid Su~ki~chaaan!"

Glaring, she tried to yank the supplies back out of his hand, unsuccessfully. "I'm not paranoid, just prepared! Don't draw attention to us. Next time, you're on your own!"

Before he could reply, a tall and pretty Ame jonin approached them. "Jun Jun, of Konoha? Please follow me, I will show you to your examination room."

Leaving with a cheeky wink and a wave, he followed her. The mood instantly dropped between Suki and Masao as they began to worry for their third colleague. Tension was slowly rising as one by one genin from random villages disappeared into the stairwell. Suki tried to break the silence, but her voice came out more meek than she expected. "Think it's just a written test? Like those guys said?"

Masao shrugged, rubbing his chin. He was too much like sensei sometimes. The familiar action was a comfort though. "Honestly, I have no idea at this point. They're already not following the normal rules of the test, so let's not try to set any expectations."

She agreed silently, spreading her chakra sense out as far and thin as she could, just like sensei taught her. She didn't know if it was nerves or her inexperience, but she still couldn't sense through the large amount of people clustered in the area. Not five minutes later, another jonin made their way over to the pair, this time an average looking male. Masao gave Suki a tight smile and wave as he was summoned, leaving her behind.

With every step he took away, she could feel more and more eyes training on her lone form. She tried to hide the shiver that wracked her body, but she was sure it was quite noticeable.

Even if her unease was real, it fed into her "helpless" image, and would help her later on. Suki never understood why the strong people were all supposed to be fearless. Everyone had fears. Even the first Hokage was probably afraid of _something_. Her fears just so happened to be enclosed spaces filled with people targeting her for no reason other than her village ties.

The muscles in her legs were starting to cramp from how tense she was, ready to bolt at the slightest of hints of an attack. She didn't even feel safe with her back against the wall. The predatory looks she was garnering only made her feel more cornered.

The Iwa genin they saw at the gate, the one with the receding hairline and spaced teeth, was giving her his undivided attention. When she finally had the nerve to glance in his direction, just to make sure he was looking at _her _and nothing around her, he licked his lips and sent her a quick wink. The look in his eyes was everything but flirty.

She tried not to vomit, barely succeeding.

She still felt like she was going to though, with the way her stomach was flipping around. Thankfully, a chunin came along and took the boy away, whom she was eternally greatful for.

More and more genin files out of the room until it was only her and four others. The staring had stopped, and she felt like she could breathe again. She tried stretching her senses to her teammates familiar chakra, but everything behind the stairwell door felt like white noise.

She felt the chuunin approach her before she saw him. Sensing was much easier now in the fading crowd. He didn't say anything, only cocked his head at her and walked right pass. She took it as that was her que to follow him.

She glanced at the few remaining genin as she followed the rather tall and intimidating chunin through the stairwell door. Their eyes were all locked on her, disappearing as soon as she turned the corner.

She had to turn off her chakra sense, as the white noise surrounding her became too much to bear. There must have been chakra jamming seal somewhere. She jumped as the man she followed turned to throw an icy stare at her, as if he could sense the action that should have been completely unidentifiable.

Being led through dark, damp hallways, Suki tried to memorize the directions they were turning. It was hard, but not impossible, just made difficult by the complete lack of any landmarks. The walls were made of smooth stone, with a dirt floor that dusted her slightly damp shoes. Cleaning that wouldn't be fun. They came to a stop in the middle of a hallway, where part of the wall slid away to reveal a small room.

He led her inside, and instructed her to sit at the chair and desk provided. In front of her was a blank piece of paper, no bigger than her hand, but no utensils to write with. There was a lightbulb hanging above her, but no light switch. The biggest and most noticeable feature was a large mirror on the other side of the room, taking up almost half the wall. The reflection made the small area look slightly bigger, but the fact people were probably watching her on the other side made it feel a million times smaller.

He stayed in the doorway, not entering the room. It seemed like he was waiting for something.

Moments later, at an invisible que, he began explaining the rules of the test. His voice was much softer and nicer than he looked, and if she was any less suspicious, she would have thought he was sympathetic to her compromised position. "This is the first stage of your exam. There are rules, which I will explain to you now, so pay attention.

"If you die, you fail. If you leave this room, you fail. If you permanently damage anything in this room, or the room itself, you fail. You will be waiting here for further instructions. If you refuse to follow instructions, or follow them incorrectly, you fail. If you fail, your teammates will also fail and be removed from the test. Your actions will be monitored closely. See ya!" He waved at her, disappearing as the door slid back into place. The sudden deafening silence left a ring in her ear.

Was that it?

She stared at the paper, before flipping it over and looking at the back. It was completely blank. She stood from her chair, examining the equally blank walls. She tried to find the seam where the door once was, but it was invisible to her naked eye.

Her chakra sense was still uselessly fuzzy, so she just sat back in her desk, put her chin in her palm hand, and began humming.


	4. Revelation

Suki didn't know what was happening. One minute she was sitting in the chair at the table, patiently waiting, and the next she was in the corner and against the wall, shivering uncontrollably and trying to steady her blurring eyesight. She tried to blink away the visions she had been seeing, unaware she was actually dreaming. Her eyes burned like fire, the worst case of dry eye she ever experienced. Her head throbbed, but slowly, she could make out her dreams.

That's the first time she thought of her past life in a _long _time. She almost even forgot about it. She slightly grieved the fact, and the fact she could barely remember anything from said life. She had wholeheartedly moved on and accepted Suki as her identity.

The camera, which was in the corner above her, had changed positions. It now facing straight down to point at her. She just realized how her clothes were damp, as if she went back outside in the rain. She knew it was sweat, even if she wasn't really sweating anymore. She patted her body, checking for any injuries. Other than a bruise she felt forming on the side of her head, she was fine.

The room around her was basically untouched, if not a little swirly-looking, now that she could focus more on her surroundings. The chair she was sitting at before was on its side, casting a deep shadow that trapped her in the corner. What she logically knew was just a shadow was moving and rippling like water. For some reason, she felt like sensei was in it, trying to capture her like he did in training. He always targeted her with his shadows, since she's the one who often tried to ambush him from behind in their team fights.

Maybe it was time to switch up their tactics.

She couldn't _ever _touch the moving shadows. It was drilled into her subconscious.

She noticed her mind wondering and tried to re-focus. That's when she realized that nothing was staying still, not just the shadows. The wood grain lines in the table looked like marching ants. The walls looked like they were bending inwards and outward in some places. Every crack and imperfection in the stone floor was now a pattern in her mind, branching off and creeping towards her like tiny spider webs until she blinked and it all went back to normal for a second. But only for a second. And then the room started swirling again.

Suki avoided the mirror on the wall completely after she saw her reflection. It looked like her eyes were melting red bean ice cream and her mouth was far wider than she remembered it being last.

She sat back and tried to calm her rapid heartbeat. Poison. This must be some type of poison. Hallucinogenic most likely. Shit.

At least she was lucid? At least she thinks she is. The dark haired girl tried to stand, unsuccessfully. She staggered back into the wall, dizzied by the moving floor and once again startled by the chairs' dancing shadow.

There was a pit of anxiety in her stomach so tight it was almost painful. She felt like she was going to throw up. Shaking hands came up to rub her temples once again, trying to make sense of everything. Her skin felt odd, almost numb.

She couldn't remember what happened. Her eyes throbbed in pain, along with the headache that was setting in, and she was becoming quite miserable in her damp clothes. She suppressed waves of shivers as much as she could and tried to circulate her chakra like she saw Sensei do to warm up on cooler days.

This was probably the test, and hopefully she didn't fail already. She couldn't remember if she received any instructions. She distracted herself from the depressing thought by reminiscing.

The idea of being a man was weird now, but she tried not to dwell on that fact. She sympathized for him, though. Or, for herself? There was a disconnect, while she _knew _that she had a past life, she was so busy living and learning the present, she never had time to reflect.

Or maybe she subconsciously didn't want to. It didn't seem like he had a very nice life. Maybe this was her chance at something better?

She tried to make it back to the wooden chair, but tripped and fell heavily to the hard floor as soon as she left the support of the bending wall. The floor felt solid, safe, if she closed her eyes. She stayed there, content to ride out the poison or whatever the fuck kind of hallucinogenic drug they deemed appropriate to give young children.

Suki knew Ame was famous for their poisons, but she didn't think they would test any on their contestants. Although she supposes it's not exactly against the rules, it has to be frowned upon, at the very least. Right?

This is a completely different world though. And Suki has come to the conclusion that she hasn't even scratched the surface of the darkness that awaited her, despite knowing how dangerous her career was before she started. She suddenly felt small and naive, wondering what else she has yet to realize about her new reality.

She didn't know how long it took, but eventually, her shaking started to subside and the pit in her stomach started to loosen up little by little. When she was stable enough to stand, the first thing she did was lean over and puke in the corner she had been curled up in for who knows how long. Uprighting the chair, she sat and brought out her water canteen. She wet the sleeve of her hoodie and laid her cool, damp arm over her burning eyes, sighing at the slight relief it gave her as she sipped on the remaining water.

She didn't realize how dehydrated she had gotten. Or how bad she needed to use the restroom. How long had she been in here?! Must've been at least 20 hours, judging off how badly her bladder felt it would explode.

She laid her head on the table, bloodshot blue eyes wincing at the bright light when she finally tried to open them. As soon as she did, the stone door she had come through once again slid open, making her jump out of her skin. Her bloodshot eyes opened enough to glare at the same man who had brought her here.

He had the decency to at least look a little guilty at her state. She must've had a stronger reaction to the poison than most did, considering how much smaller she was comparatively.

He motioned to follow him. Confused, Suki cocked her head. "Wait, weren't we supposed to receive instructions?"

He shook his head, motioning her to follow him again. "You already did. Come on, let's go."

As she got up to follow him, the anxiety she finally got rid of came back full force. She already received the instructions? What the hell?! Did she fail the test already?

She was led back to the foyer and the jonin left without a word. She was one of the first there. There was a bathroom, thankfully, which she immediately took advantage of. With the aid of chakra, ninja are trained to hold their bladders for a ridiculously long amounts of time, but that didn't mean it was pleasant in any sense of the word.

People were being led back one by one, some more lucid than others. Surprisingly, she seemed to be one of the more lucid people in the room. Genin from other villages were looking around, absently staring at their hands or the walls in complete fascination. One in particular she noticed with very damp pants. Looks like not everyone could hold it for so long.

Jun was brought back to her first. As soon as he cleared the doorway, they were back to back, watching each others blind spots as they waited for their final teammate. It was relieving to have him back at her side, but she was worried for their final member.

He still had the shakes, which means he might've not worked the poison from his system yet. Maybe they gave her a smaller dose, due to her small size? His eyes weren't red like hers, but his pupils were three times the size of what was normal. His hair was mussed, like it always was a year ago, before he found out what the function of a hair brush was.

They sat in a tense silence until Masao finally walked trough the doors. The brown-haired boy made a beeline for them.

Suki gave him a once-over, noticing some bug bites under his ruffled raised collar. His eyes were hidden by his sunglasses, but she could guess they were either red like hers or his pupils were huge like Juns'. He wasn't shaking, but he was moving slow and awkward as he completed their formation. Every once in a while she could feel him dry heaving, and was glad he could hold it down. Her clothes were still kinda damp from sweat and she probably smelled horrible. No reason to add "being puked on" to the list of reasons she felt gross.

The room steadily filled once again, with more and more teams reuiniting. The proctor approached the podium and waited for the final genin to find their team before he began to speak. Suki swore, for a moment, her met her eye, but wrote it off as her imagination. There was a considerably less amount of Genin in the room than what they started with, he was probably just taking a head count. "Some of you are missing team members. If you are, please exit the exam area. Your teammate has failed this portion of the exam, and therefore, so do you."

Suki was immediately glad she had both her boys by her side.

There were shouts of protest. "Wait, where's our teammate?!" and "I don't even remember anything! What happened?!" were the most prominent.

His indifferent look didn't falter as he explained. "Your missing teammates are probably at either the Amegakure Poison Research Center or the Great Moku Hospital. You can go retrieve them at any time. As for what happened, I will only explain to those who passed. So please, if your team failed, take your leave immediately."

A mass amount of people filed out of the doorway. There were only 8 teams left in the end. We were the only team from Konoha that passed, which was really shocking, considering we were also the least experienced.

One Iwa team passed, and of course, it was the one with the creepy boy. Iwa was at a disadvantage from the start, considering their larger numbers, so the fact they passed at all was impressive. Two Suna teams passed, along with Ame who, with 4 duos, passed the most genin. Since they were the two villages that specialize in poison, it wasn't all that shocking. Kusa and Kiri are out of the running completely, leaving 21 genin to continue to the second exam.

Once the door slammed shut behind the last failing team, he continued his explanation. "This was a rather extreme test, I commend you all on passing. I'm sure you all have a lot of questions."

There were scattered murmers and some harsh remarks Suki heard, but if the proctor did too, he pretended not to. "You all might be surprised to find out you were in those rooms for approximately 30 hours. It may seem extreme, but we just simulated a real-life situation, of which you all passed admirably. In the field, you won't always know what your missions are. You may be left in the dark for days, weeks, even months as you wait for instructions on your mission. Or maybe you'll have to wait for an informant behind enemy lines. You'll have to be patient, waiting weeks to months to _years _for highly sensitive information to be passed into your hands. There's a lot of unknowns in the life of Shinobi, and you must be prepared for all outcomes."

Suki absorbed the wisdom she found rather profound. She could see the logic behind his words clearly, even if some others in the room couldn't. Maybe it was because they had a Nara for a teacher, but team 13 knew when to accept wisdom and advice when offered. But that did explain the hallucinogen.

A random voice called out, irate, and slurred, voicing the same thoughts she was having. "Hey! But, hey, what's with the the poison?!"

The proctors facade finally cracked. He couldn't hold back a smirk. "Here is a possible scenario. You and your team have been dispatched to kill a noble in a neighboring country. You fail, and during your escape, you get captured while your squad escapes. You are ransomed to your village, who has to make the decision on whether you're important enough to risk the manpower to save you forcefully, or bending over to the demands of their enemies. You have to wait in enemy hands, and you don't know if you'll ever be rescued. You won't have any way to contact your team. You'll have to depend on your village or depend on your own abilities to escape. You don't know what sort of interrogation techniques or inventions they'll try out on you. That's the price of being at the mercy of the enemy. And you won't always know if you gave away sensitive information. Never, ever leave yourself at the mercy of your enemy."

Almost all of the genin blanched, remembering the cameras and the mirror they were most likely being observed through. Who knows what happened to them or what they spilled when they were tripping absolute _balls _for almost two whole days.

Jun had finally stopped shaking and his eyes were slowly receding to a normal size. Masao was still itching his bug bites, but it didn't seem like he felt sick anymore.

Suki felt almost back to normal, forgiving her aching eyes, and a unique clarity to her vision now that everything was finally sitting still again.

"The next exam will begin the day after tomorrow. It will last two days. I will explain the test now, so you may prepare yourselves adequately."

His voice boomed even louder than before, recapturing the attention of the room.

"Shinobi and Bandit!" He yelled, almost gleefully. Team 13 deadpanned in unison.

"The next exam will be based off of the popular children's game. Your team will be labeled as either a Shinobi team or a Bandit team. The Shinobi team is in charge of protecting an object. The Bandit team is in charge of capturing said object and bringing it to one of three check points. The Shinobi team wins if they are able to protect the object for the entire four hour limit, if the Bandit team is unable to continue, or if the Bandit team doesn't make it to a checkpoint with the object within said limit. The Bandit team wins if they are able to steal and deliver the object to one of three checkpoints in the four hour limit or if the Shinobi team is unable to continue." He seemed rather amused by the childishness of it all. "The Bandit team will be given a five minute head start to set up. If one of your teammates becomes injured or unable to continue, you may still pass the test. Lethal force is allowed. Please stand by while we draw teams." He stepped down from the podium, conversing with a few other Jonin as he left the room for a moment.

Masao leaned over to Jun, whispering loud enough for her to hear, "Wait, so we know who we'll be going up against beforehand? This will make things a little less stressful at least."

I nodded my head. "They'll probably put one Ame team against all us other villages. It gives them the highest probability of getting genin in the final rounds, which always gets the most publicity."

The proctor returned to his station, holding a small sticky note. He cut everyone off, and the room silenced as he began announcing teams. "First day, first round: Team Scorpion from Suna versus Team 77 from Ame."

Jun's eyes became sparkly as he heard Suna's team name. "Woah! Suna's names are so cool! Why don't other villages do cool stuff like that?!"

Masao shrugged, also slightly impressed. Suki couldnt care less. She was more focused on the pair of girls that was team 77 that wouldn't stop blushing and giggling in Jun's direction. Thankfully the flirty boy was too dazed and still coming down from the poison, far too distracted by the "bad-ass" Suna team to notice their attention.

To be fair, they did look pretty cool, with their coordinating camo outfits. Maybe they should try something like that?

The next team was announced. "First day, second round: Team Windstorm from Suna versus Team 49 from Ame."

Team 49 was a pair of downright _mean _looking teens, probably about 16 years old. One had a spear strapped to his back, and the other was wearing an odd triangular shaped sun hat. The Suna team was entirely unremarkable, just a team of puppet users.

"Second day, first round: Team 02 from Ame versus Team 89 from Ame."

Suki, surprised, threw a questioning look back to her teammates. Then she realized who they were up against. It only dawned on the boys as they watched the pale girls face drop, already having accepting her fate. Her blue eyes faded to an almost grey color as she stared at the boys in despair, pleading for the exam to be over with already. Jun and Masao could feel the self-loathing radiating off her in waves. It seems Team 13's luck ran out. Why now of all times?

"Second day, second round: Team 13 from Konoha versus Team 4 from Iwa. Please report to this same address the day after tomorrow. Congratulations on passing the first test."

He didn't waste a moment before trotting off, leaving everyone to their own devices. Suki completely avoided looking in the Iwa teams' direction, hoping she could just ignore the gazes she felt burning into her skull. Of course, Masao couldn't let her pretend they didn't exist.

"Man, those guys are really giving us shit. I get we _really _destroyed them in the war, but come on, you'd think they'd have learned their lesson by now." Suki elbowed him sharply, sneaking a panicked look in the their direction. The four teens looked absolutely murderous, probably having heard Masao's stupid little comment. "You idiot!! Let's not do this today. Remember when sensei told us NOT to die?! This is BEGGING for us to get murdered!"

He shrugged, at least having the courtesy of looking slightly sheepish as he rubbed the new bruise forming above his hip. Jun sighed and started dragging his team out of the building and back towards the hotel, just wanting to find sensei and feel safe again. They let him, both too tired to protest.

As soon as they arrived at the hotel and entered their room, they finally were able to relax. Jun hopped in the shower as Masao and Suki waited for their turns.

Sensei was waiting patiently for them to get clean and comfortable on Masao's bunk. It didn't take long. One minute he was relaxed and looked almost asleep, the next he was summoning a monkey, one they haven't met before. It was rather unexpected.

They all shot up from their positions. Masao, who was slouched over the sink brushing his teeth, started gagging and choking on the toothpaste. Jun, who was on the top bunk, jumped so high he hit his head on the ceiling. Suki, who was on the ceiling meditating and trying to relax fell hard to the floor, hitting her already sore head. That would definitely leave a bump.

It wasn't every day they got to meet another one of Senseis' summons. Her fur was the same silver white color of Buro and Boro's, and she had the same tan and wrinkly face. Her tail was twice the length of her body, and wrapped around sensei for support like it was second nature as he sat up to regard them with calculating eyes.

"This, children, is Mako. She'll be clearing the poison from your systems and taking samples, while checking you for any other bodily injury. I hope you don't mind. Don't worry, she's actually quite gentle and experienced in medical ninjutsu. She can't talk, but I have my own way of communicating with her." He calmly explained.

The small, fluffy white monkey made chirping and cooing noises as she jumped onto Sensei's shoulders and wrapped her long arms around his neck in a hug, rubbing her furry head into his goatee affectionately. He seemed annoyed by whatever she said, but declined to share with us.

She released Kotaro, and after snaking down his tall form, scuttled over to Jun with her tail held high in the air behind her. She patted his cheeks gently, and Suki couldn't hold back her laughter at the dumbfounded face he made. "Wait, so what was the point of the first test Sensei? That wasn't anything like what we heard it was supposed to be."

Mako the monkey continued examining and checking over the black haired boy as he spoke, unbothered by the conversation. Sensei responded after making sure his summon didn't mind. "I don't know. This was a power play. They are pretty much the smallest elemental nation, and they're smack dab in the middle of everybody else. They've only barely survived as a village this long, and my guess is they're hoping to show the world they're not weak. I'm worried about the impact this might have when we get home though. Be prepared for some very thorough mental and physical testing."

Masao groaned as he entered the room and conversation, clearly not liking the idea.

His cloak was abandoned, leaving him back in his t-shirt and black pants. Bug bites were visible all up and down his arms. Suki gasped and leaned towards him, grabbing his wrist and inspecting the wounds. In a move he didn't expect, and too fast for him to stop, she jerked his shirt up and exposed his pale abs, and the numerous red marks dotting his entire abdomen. Mako immediately stopped with Jun's checkup with a screech and attached herself to Masao, wrinkly hands glowing with white energy as she healed what she could.

Jun eyed one of Masao's passerby Kikaichu suspiciously. "What the hell happened Masa?! Those bites are insane!"

Suki has never seen the Aubrame cringe so hard before. The fact his glasses were off and his brown eyes were exposed only dramatized the effect. "I'm guessing they tried eating the poison out of my system, only to be affected themselves. They've never been out of control like that before. The clan won't be happy when they hear about this."

Sensei nodded, understanding. "Suki, tell me what the exam room was like exactly."

Suki followed her orders. "It was made completely of limestone and another form of rock I didn't recognize. There was a dark oak 4x4 table about four feet tall, with a matching chair. There was a surveillance camera in the right corner of the room, a version I have never seen before. It looked clunkier than the ones we use. There was a mirror on the opposite wall as you walked in, I assumed it was a 2-way. And there was the blank piece of paper on the table when I got there. I didn't realize it the time, probably because of the poison, but it wasn't there when I woke back up..."

By the grim look on sensei's face, she knew this didn't mean good news. Mako finally healed Masao and of all his little red dots before moving onto her. The small primate wrapped her long tail around Suki's waist (it was long enough to go around almost three times) and placed furry hands behind her back in a hug similar to the one she gave sensei. As she did, Suki felt healing chakra delve into her system. She turned off her sensing and just tried to enjoy the warm tingling she felt as Mako moved her palms all around her body, checking joints and ligaments and muscle responses, with chakra alone. It was quite fascinating.

Mako got to the bruise on her head (made worse by her tumble moments ago) and healed it swiftly, only to start chattering oddly a moment later. Suki opened her (still sore) eyes in confusion, wondering what was wrong, and hoping she could just heal her dry eye already. Mako's chattering turned into screeches. The boys were just as confused as she was.

Masao, wanting to protect his female teammate, quickly tried to pry the monkey off of her, only to get swiped and hissed at viciously. Sensei took charge, finally able to decipher the primates' panicked wails.

"Mako, are you sure?" His eyes were steeled, and he stood up and appeared next to her so fast she couldn't even sense it. He was there one second and here the next. Sometimes it was scary when the Jonin showed their real abilities.

More chippering and face pats from Mako later, and it seemed like it was confirmed. Kotaro-sensei just stared at the black haired girl intently, like he was seeing something he hadn't tried looking for before. He brought both hands up to his face a moment later, rubbing his eyes and cheeks hard. "Oh fuck me. Fuck. Alright. Alright little missy. I'm going to go get someone, and you three are staying right here with Mako. If anything happens, she's going to reverse summom you with her back to the summoning world. Okay?"

He was gone before any of us even answered. Jun and Masao were looking at Suki oddly, like she was about to keel over and die any moment. She glared right back, before throwing her ratty old slippers at them. Sadly, her stink bombs were dodged. "I don't know what happened, but it's obviously serious. If I'm gonna die, I don't wanna die looking at _those _stupid faces you're making."

Jun scoffed, giving her a cheesy smile. "Nice try, but we know we're cute."

Masao punched his arm, noticing how panicked Suki actually was despite trying to hide it. The Aubrame scooted next to her on the floor and wrapped a comforting arm around her.

Suki wasn't ever one for physical contact. Unless it was to hurt someone. But in situations like these, she didn't mind at all. It was nice to have someone there, it grounded her. Specially when it was one of her favorite two people.

Sensei wasn't gone long. A moment later, he and another Konoha jonin were by her side. She assumed it was their ANBU gaurd, the muted chakra she felt before finally burning brightly in front of her.

She had long, wavy, chestnut colored hair cut bluntly at her knees. She was wearing a sleeping kimono, obviously having been just woken up, a pink sleeping mask covering her forehead. The woman was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was dainty and thin, something Suki was surprisingly jealous of.

When her small palms left her face, the young orphan was shocked to see the eyes of a Hyuuga meeting her own. "Wait, what's the meaning of this Kotaro?"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Emergency. I need you to confirm something with your byakugan."

She eyed him blankly before turning to me, the obvious problem. "You're gonna make this up to me. Big time. You're lucky I even put up with your lazy Nara ass. What am I looking for?"

The three Genin were shocked to hear such language leave the mouth of a noble Hyuuga clan member. Kotaro-sensei nudged her towards me, not giving us time to process. "Check her eyes and tell me what you see."

She scoffed, closing her own tired eyes. "I'm not an iryo-nin, I can try, but-" her voice receded as the veins bulged at her temples. Her eyes were still closed, but she could see exactly what sensei wanted her to confirm.

She spun, deactivating her kekkei genkai and marched up to the preteen. The beautiful woman cupped Suki's face with a delicate hand and inspected her with the same expression that sensei has worn a few minutes ago, even eyeing her small beauty mark under intense scrutiny. Her long hair fell like a curtain around them. Suki tried to pull away when the clouded gaze became too much, and the Hyuuga let her. "Kota... we don't know for sure. It could be anything. Or even something new."

The Nara sighed, covering his face with his palms. The two teens next to her were once again tensed, never having seen the jonin this stressed. Masao voiced his concerns first. "Woah! What's wrong?! Did the poison make her sick? Is she going to be okay?!"

"She's going to be fine... actually, she's going to be great. We think she might actually have... a kekkei genkai. Maybe." Kotaro replied.

Suki sat in shock at the words, staring dumbly at the jonin before her. She felt Masao and Jun's eyes dart towards her and holes started burning into the sides of her head. Jun's voice was shaky as he asked the question they were all wondering. "Wait... it can't be the byakugan right? Her eyes aren't white. And she has pupils, so she can't be a Yamanaka... what other ocular kekkei genkai are there?!"

The adults looked like they knew, but didn't want to say. Suki has figured it out almost immediately. It was Masao's turn now. "The Sharingan."

She finally snapped out of her daze and looked at her teammates. Masao was staring at her like she now belonged in a museum. Jun was still slightly confused. "Wait... didn't the Uchiha all get slaughtered?"

Suki saw Kotaro wince out of the corner of her eye, and she resigned to just stare at the ground. She didn't wanna see everyone's reactions anymore. The silence turned deafening as Jun finally caught on. "Wait, Jonin-san said it could be anything. Or something new. How do we find out??"

The woman immediately cut it down. "We're not doing anything. We're going to finish the exam, go home, and get her evaluated. Messing with it now would be stupid, her eyes are already strained enough. Suki Cho, you are absolutely under no circumstance allowed to attempt to activate it. Am I understood?"

She shriveled under the intense milky gaze, conceding easily with a nod.

She spun on the boys, giving them the same glare. "And you two aren't to tell ANYBODY. This is going to be an S-ranked secret until you're told otherwise. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal!" They chanted in union, blanching under the pressure her chakra was exerting. Even Jun, who wasn't a sensor, could feel its effect.

Mako, who was still wrapped tightly around Suki, finally put furry palms over reddened eyes and lessened the pain. The girl sighed in relief, finally able to fully relax. Sensei shuffled over and ruffled her hair, "Mako will stay with you, whenever you're not in the exam. You need to get back to the village safe and sound no matter what, so she'll reverse summon you if anything happens. You're lucky she even knows how. Alright?"

She nodded, leaning into his touch. He chuckled at the action, only now realizing how tired his little Genin were. "You three get to bed. We're going to discuss everything in her room. If you need anything, just ask Mako. I'll be back later."

We all nodded, gathered ourselves, and cozied up in our respecting bunks without protest. It had been a really, really long day. But the team all laid awake.

Jun's frustration was growing. She could tell. It wouldn't be long before he voiced whatever was bothering him. Masa cut the quiet tension before it could grow any more. "Su? My mom said you looked like an Uchiha once. I don't think she meant for me to hear, but I did. She said, "If it weren't for those bright blue eyes, I'd have thought there was another Uchiha survivor."

The black-haired girl cringed and turned on her side, facing the wall. He continued. "I think that's amazing. Everything makes so much sense. How good your eyesight is. How pretty you are."

Jun cut him off. "How good she is at everything."

The silence turned deafening. Suki had enough. She didn't even turn over, just spoke to the wall as she finally found her voice. "I'm good because I worked hard, Jun. Don't ever invalidate my work again. And don't think this is some happy moment for me. Do you two realize what I just learned?"

Tears started falling, for the first time in a long while. "I just gained a family, only to have it ripped away in the same moment. I might have one clan brother who may or may not accept me. My ability was revealed to my enemy before even I knew I had it. There's no way we can just keep this an S-rank secret... we were under surveillance during that test, and apparently, I activated it. If we weren't already a target before, we're the fucking bullseye now. _I'm _the bullseye. We might not even make it home safe, if they're serious about eliminating or even capturing me."

The real ramifications finally caught up to them.

The next test, which they only had one day to prepare for, was going to be more than just an exam for them now. It was going to be a test of their will and their trust as a team.

Despite her exhaustion, Suki stayed up for hours trying to calculate the odds of her actually being the bastard child of an Uchiha. No matter what excuses or possibilities she thought up, a moment later senseis' face of absolute certainty flashed in her minds eye, and she was once again lost for words.

The blue eyed girl tried to remember the last time she saw Sasuke, the Uchiha survivor who was a year below her in the academy. She never thought much of him, but now there was a possibility he was her _cousin. _She couldn't help but feel an attachment already.

Suki never had an actual family before. The closest she ever got was her orphanage caretakers and siblings (who all changed like the wind), and now her genin team. But that was a different kind of family.

Biting her thumb, she tried to imagine what her childhood might have been like, had she been born into the noble clan. She tried to remember the Uchiha children she went to school with, the clothes they wore, and the way they acted. She tried to remember the times she walked past the Uchiha district, before it became lonely and deserted.

She cried herself to sleep that night, mourning the family she never got to meet.

She regretting not paying more attention to the memorials. When she got home, she would visit every single grave.


	5. Liability

Suki felt as light as she ever had as she flitted through the infinite bamboo forest. There were random breaks in the long thin stalks, giving way to medows with lush flora where she could finally breathe air that didn't smell of mold or moss. The sun was probably setting, since it seemed darker from when the test began, but she couldn't exactly tell through the thunder and rain. As soon as she plunged back into the maze of bamboo, the light shut off like someone flipped a switch.

She slicked her dark hair from her face and down her neck, ignoring the icy rivulets of water that used it as a trail to invade the back of her wet hoodie.

It was nothing compared to the freezing fear that gripped her heart.

The scroll she was meant to protect felt like a thousand pounds in her white side pouch, like the weight of her very life rested within the soaked paper. She couldn't stop moving. She had to find her teammates, and she couldn't let that ugly mother fucker catch her again. He was right on her trail, like a bloodhound tracking a frightened fox.

Sky blue eyes were almost glowing in the darkness, blinking away the rain as she tried to transcribe the fast fading tracks within the mud, running at the fastest pace her eyes could keep up with. Thankfully Jun and Masao weren't separated. Only her. She sent a pulse of chakra out, trying to both get a responding signal from her teammate and survey her surroundings. Nothing. She dodged a random trap she recognized as Jun's handiwork before realizing it was already triggered. They might have the upper hand then, at this point.

One particularly ragged breath later and a pain stitched her side, almost making her keel over mid-stride. The preteen managed to slow her momentum before she face planted, but only barely.

She dropped to her knees, bracing herself against the sturdiest bamboo shoot she could find under such short notice. She felt like a fish on land, gasping for air greedily. The fear gripping her like a vice increased tenfold as soon as she stopped, only barely managing to avoid another well-hidden trap.

Her vision seemed to pulse with her heartbeat, and Suki had to actively avoid channeling chakra into her eyes to appease the growing headache. She had no clue what would activate her newly discovered dojutsu, or how much chakra it would drain. The Hyuuga jonin Kota-sensei was friends with gave her a crash course on dojutsu the past two days while they were waiting for their turn in the exam, but it didn't feel like enough.

She heard her enemy before she saw him. Rumbling earth was a dead giveaway of an Iwa shinobi. Just as his scruffy blonde hair emerged from the ground she was crawling up her bamboo shoot like it was a rope, her tired legs swinging wildly behind her. When she got high enough she braced herself with a forearm and looked down, locking eyes with the same short Iwa Genin that had given her team a hard time the day they arrived in Ame.

He grinned, reminding Suki of a crooked comb with broken teeth. His brown eyes held a murdurous malice, unbefitting his cheery expression, but matching the killing intent rolling off of his chakra like boulders roll down a hill, slamming and crashing into eachother with true insanity. His high pitched voice cracked with exitement as he called to her, "Here, kitty, kitty! Did you get stuck in a tree? Let me- HELP!"

With a chakra-fueled kick, the bamboo shoot snapped and started toppling. His motion set off the kunai trap, which he wasn't fast enough to completely avoid, although she couldn't tell how much damage was done. She only heard the _shlick _of metal impacting flesh.

Suki, not wanting to near the ground and become an easier target for his earth jutsu, finally made use of her sore legs and started bunny hopping from stalk to stalk, following the direction she last saw her teammates' tracks in. The muddy prints were long gone now, but hopefully she would find some other sign of them.

The muscles in her calves and thighs were screaming after their second hour straight of running, but at least the test was half over. Almost immediately upon Team 13 entering the testing grounds, Suki had been separated from her boys. The blonde rock ninja immediately took after her, screaming a haphazard "BYE!" over his shoulder. Suki had no choice but to run or to meet him face to face, which in hindsight, she should have done. But when someone starts _chasing _you, the first instinct is to _run. _

The Iwa team seemed surprised at their own teammates' actions, apparently they hadn't planned for. They planned an ambush, not to separate both teams, is what she gathered from their shocked expressions. Their head-start was useless now.

Suki would gladly have stopped beat his ass at any point, if he didn't fucking _cheat_ with his taijutsu. Every slide of his foot or flick of his wrist made the earth shake or sent dust into her eyes. Suki, who had been taught nothing but _proper _taijutsu and had never encountered such underhanded tactics before, was matching up poorly. All she could do was avoid his attacks, like water flowing around stones a child was throwing in a river. She relied heavily on her more flexible taijutsu styles as she analyzed his form, trying to build the kata in her minds eye.

The Uchiha bastard child couldn't possibly keep her balance with the very ground beneath her feet sliding around, and fighting midair was laughable at her skill level. Her (paper) training tessen were useless in the wind and rain, and her kunai were most useful at long range, which was hard to get when he could just pop underground and show up again right behind her. Every genjutsu she landed seemed to wash off with the rain, completely useless. He was far above her skill level, and under these conditions, she had little to no chance of winning a one-on-one fight. She needed her team.

Just then, a familiar sight almost made Suki cry in relief. Out of the very corner of her eye she spotted a small kikaichu big struggling against the wind, wobbling it's way towards her in the air. She reached out a pale hand and palmed it swiftly, allowing it to crawl up her sleeve, away from the harsh weather conditions.

They would find her. She was sure of it, now that she had a bug, though she was unsure of how the rain would effect their pheromone tracking.

Now she could focus on herself. She took out her ninja wire as she ran, slowly decending until she was once again running on the muddy ground. She prepared a few kunai as she scanned with her chakra, trying to find _any _sign of life. Maybe they had the same sensor jamming technique here?

Suki expected the blonde to come up on her any moment, but it wasn't happening. The tension in her stomach felt like a twisted coil ready to snap as she sat in the shadow of a particularly close cluster of stalks, catching her breath. She could only hear the static like sound of the rain as she sat, still as one of the bamboo shoots that surrounded her. She didn't dare close her pulsing eyes, as she might miss some visual threat her ears may not be sensitive enough to decipher through the buzzing rain.

It had been quiet for too long. She hadn't been counting the seconds, but she should have been, as ones sense of time tends to falter during such occasions. Her breath was almost completely returned to her, and she felt more grounded than she had since she left the underground exam room and found out she had a dojutsu.

She took her time to survey the area before making any sudden movements. It seemed like the rain lightened up, but only slightly. There was a tension in the air though, one Suki recognized as nostalgic but couldn't put her finger on. Her ears started ringing slightly as she strained them, trying to hear everything around her.

And then a scream tore through the static and the ringing, echoing around the dimly lit forest with an eerie bouncing quality.

It was Masao's.

Pulled into action by an invisible force, she started flying wildly towards the original cry, ignoring all the imposters trying to pull her off course. Her eyesight was almost rippling now, red with anger. The burn of her lungs and legs vanished, replaced by the hot tingle of chakra unconsciously boosting the adrenaline burst she just received.

Either she was running faster than she calculated or her sense of time was still off, because she arrived on the scene much faster than she expected. If her blood wasn't boiling before, it was now a roaring fire searing her veins.

Masao lay prone on the ground, kunai sticking out of his body at various angles. His eye was open, but lifeless; staring listlessly at the ground as Jun cried over him. His fat, ugly tears hit her dead teammates' bloodied cheeks along with assaulting rain pellets, leaving trails of pink running into the mud that coated the left side of his face, which was still pressed deeply into the ground. Like he landed harshly and never got up.

She didn't fail to notice the two dead Iwa shinobi, one speared through the stomach (presumably with one of her boys' earth jutsu) and the other pale and rather dehydrated looking, a side effect she recognized as death from rapid chakra drainage. She had seen it in action before and knew what the aftereffect looked like.

The world suddenly stopped vibrating, and snapped into a clarity even better than the one she experienced after the poison wore off after their first test. If she thought time was slow before, it was almost as if someone hit the pause button now. She watched, surprised, as she saw Jun's tears and the rain around them literally _floating. _The pulsing was now contained behind her eye sockets, faint, but an unignorable pressure.

Almost just as fast, time cranked up speed, but the clarity never faded. Jun finally noticed her presence, looking up to study her new shiny red eyes for the first time.

They somehow looked more natural on her than her blue eyes did, he found himself thinking, surprised. Her ash black hair was slicked back like some sort of shady businessman, keeping the strands from her eyes. It gave him a clearer view.

They were _almost _a purple, like there was a red film over her eyes mixing with the blue, causing the off-red coloring. Two commas were spinning rapidly in each eye, almost indecipherable. If she weren't so close, he would have just thought the light was shining off her eyes oddly.

She looked beautiful. He knows Masao would've wanted to see. But he won't wake up. Jun felt hot guilt press into his eyes, causing another bout of tears to fall free. He had been so _jealous. _So blinded by envy. Angry at Suki over something she had no control of, and as of the moment, something she didn't even _want. _

And now their numbers were even. Iwa had the advantage, to begin with, but the coin was flipped in their favor as soon as Suki broke off with the "Crazy One" as his teammates called him.

They played cat and mouse for a while, but then the crazy one showed up again out of nowhere, injured but still capable of taking Masao's life like taking candy from a baby. He wanted to tell Suki all of this. He wanted to explain. But the pain in his heart and the grief constricting his throat only let him cry out sobs of despair, mourning his lost brother.

Suki started crying too, but her tears were of blood. It burred and reddened her vision, but she paid no mind. She turned, quickly finding the tracks left in the mushy earth. She didn't know if it was her eyes that made it easier or if it was because the rain was letting up more and more every moment.

It didn't take long for her to come up on his rear. The ugly blonde was slowed down by a kunai sticking out of his thigh, suspiciously close to an artery. Suki fished for her previously prepared a kunai, throwing it with a deadly accuracy. It hit the top of his calf, the opposite leg of his other injury. He fell without even a grunt, and melted halfway into the goopy mud that blended in with the soaked forest floor. The blonde Iwa ninja still had a wild smile on his face as he tried to scramble away on his arms, like an elderly dog with a lame backside.

It was okay though, because Suki would show him something _really _funny.

She gave chase, this time being the bloodhound that hunted the sly fox. A rocky spire jumped in her view but with her new eyes she could react at the very moments notice, dodging easily. She easily caught him in a rough tumble, tackling him like she had done in a sport called Football in another life. He pulled her into a grapple, trying to take a chunk of her throat out with his teeth, but in this, she was superior. If only she could get her arm around his neck, but he wasn't giving her a chance. He couldn't use his earth jutsu when they were so close together, and she had more pure muscle than him. He couldn't take his eyes off hers, shocked at the sight of her sharingan. And that's when Suki remembered not only was the Sharingan good for copying jutsu, it also made genjustsu unordinarily strong.

She dug her chakra into his like tendrils, delving haphazardly, slapping him with the first genjutsu she thought of. It felt different, like it was barbed now, sticking to him instead of sliding off whatever defense he had prepared. She couldn't see whatever the Hell Viewing Technique showed him, but she could intensify it by the amount of chakra and killing intent she used. When he finally stopped with his grapple and fell limp enough, she quickly twisted her arm around his neck, ignoring his high pitched gurgles and far away eyes as she snapped it like a glow stick. Blood and spit bubbled out of his mouth, dripping over her pale arm.

As she looked down on his body, she didn't feel like it was enough. Not nearly enough. Using the genjutsu felt cheap.

She gave the corpse a couple of good kicks, before sticking an active explosive tag on the underside. Whoever tried to recover his body would hopefully get blown up along with the filthy mutt. She made her way back to Jun Jun, trying to ignore the way her limbs were shaking. The adrenaline was draining from her and mixed with her emotional and physical exhaustion, leaving her feeling like she belonged in the geriatric ward of Konoha Hospice.

Only, when she found him again, the last Iwa ninja was there with a swollen face and head, stabbing wildly at Juns' back with whatever energy he had left. He was panting, barely able to scream as he thrusted his whole body forward in a frenzy, "YOU... KILLED... MY... BROTHERS... YOU... BASTARD!"

Jun was gone now too. There wasn't any doubt. She took too long, or didn't analyze the situation well enough, and both of her teammates suffered.

The Iwa demon didn't look any older than Masao and Jun. She might've considered him cute if his face wasn't swollen and pockmarked with bug bites.

He didn't notice her approach, through his grief or injuries, she didn't know which. She kicked him to the side, off of her pulverized teammate, who didn't stand half a chance against such a brute without her or Masao by his side.

He fell harshly, sliding a few feet in the mud. They were both already caked in it though, so it didn't make much difference.

He laid there, sobbing. She noticed then one of his arms was broken. He probably had a few broken ribs too, and one of his ankles was bent at a 90 degree angle. He had a blooming bruise where his neck met his collarbone, which might've even been internal bleeding. The image burned itself in her mind, like everything else she saw that day inevitably would. She walked over, straddled his wide chest with her hips and locked his arms in place with her legs. He cried out, but she ignored it.

She took her time, making sure her hands were wrapped properly around his throat before slowly starting to squeeze. Blood dripped onto his face, and she realized she was once again crying. She squeezed harder, trying hard to ignore the shudder of grief that struck her.

The strange clarity started to fade from her vision, leaving the world dark and dulled around the edges. The soft static of rain was all she could hear over the sound of the child below her choking for air.

She looked into his one eye, the one that wasn't swollen shut. It was a stormy grey, matching the clouds that thundered above them. With a final squeeze, she crushed his trachea, and watched the stricken horror in his grey orbs fade into a glassy sheen.

She removed the scroll from her pocket, the soaking wet one that lost all meaning to her as soon as she heard Masao's death cry, shoved it past his swollen lips, and down his mangled throat.

She ambled her way slowly towards the exit of the forest, where a giant flare had been lit to guide her through the fog and mist that resulted from the rain.

She heard a "_BOOM_" go off behind her, and she wondered in the back of her mind if her admittedly petty plan was at all effective.

As the ground shook from her explosion, she realized she was also shaking. And sobbing. She only just noticed that she was crying so hard she could barely breathe, her lungs burning with a pain that didn't come near to matching the fresh wound in her heart. Her heart was racing so fast it was skipping beats.

Fuck whoever came up with this test. Hopefully he was the one who had to clean the bodies up.

Suki noticed the black ink swarming her vision, but kept walking forward. She blinked her blue eyes that felt like hot coal, and suddenly the ground was rushing towards her. And then the world went black for a while.

She didn't know for how long, or why she even fell asleep, but she knew she was being carried. She almost felt like a toddler again, being held against the beautiful Aki's shoulder.

Aki. She died the day of the Kyuubi attack, trying to protect her favorite child, the one people often said could've been hers, if you went by looks alone. Suki added her onto the list of "people to grieve".

When she awoke, she was being carried, but not from room to room in an orphanage. She was was riding something large through a wet, grassy field. Sounds of battle ripped her out of her slumber with a shock, and she gripped the first familiar thing she saw, which was Buro. He had her on his side, carrying her small small body like a mother would carry her toddler. When he saw she was awake, he practically threw her into a piggyback position.

"Good morning, child. It's taken you long enough to rouse." His deep voice rumbled. Suki gripped onto his white fur tighter and wrapped her legs securely around his waist as far as they would go, not wanting to slip. Her raspy voice could barely be heard over the rushing wind as they flew by fields of lush green scenery, and she had to clear her throat after she spoke. "What's going on?! Where are we?!"

She chanced a sky blue glance behind them only to panic. Kotaro sensei and the Hyuuga woman she had been calling Tohru-senpai were behind them, fending off unmarked enemies that seemed to drop from above out of nowhere or rip from the ground below like particularly determined mole rats, all aiming for her.

"We had to flee. I don't know the whole story myself. When Mako and I were summoned, there was a squad of Ame shinobi trying to take you to some hospital. Kotaro wouldn't allow it, he ordered us to take you and flee back to the village. They gave chase, and-" he was cut off by a feminine scream. Suki's muddy hair had dried, hitting her hard in the face as she whipped her head to see Tohru-sempai fall, a kunai jutting out the back of her knee. She had a hand outstretched towards Kota-sensei, who's lips were pulled back into a feral snarl, making him look more like Buro than Kotaro. Time suddenly stopped. Except it didn't.

Buro continued to flee with Suki on his back, so she was able to watch as her sensei slaughtered all of the rogue ninja he had frozen in place with his shadow. He hadn't quite left her sight, so she could still make out his form as he picked up his fallen comrade.

And also watch him get pulled underground in a classic Head Hunter trap, dropping the graceful Hyuuga next to him. Suki watched in mortified horror as a man crawled from the ground. She was only able to see a glint of black metal before Tohru was slaughtered in front of her sensei (she was his _lover, they were lovers-) _by a man who by all accounts should have fallen long ago, judging by the amount of blood leaking from the slash on his thigh.

She watched as sensei was knocked out cold. The man with the injured leg turned in her direction, and she had just enough time to meet his eyes as he raised his hand to the air and shot out a bright yellow flare.

Her grip on Buro must have become painful, but he didn't admonish her. They had long entered grass country in her sleep, so it had stopped raining, but she could still feel water hitting the arms that wrapped around his thick muscled neck. His choked voice made her finally turn around and loosen her grip. "He has not fallen. I would have been sent back to the summoning realm. I assume they have taken him prisoner. If I disappear before we reach Konoha, know he is gone. I won't stay longer than that though, I don't want to drain his strength."

He paused, before conintuing. "I don't think they will pursue any longer." The young girl only nodded, placing her filthy face against his course white fur. She felt embarrassed about getting him dirty, as she knew he hated to be unclean, but felt he would understand, given the circumstances.

She would have fallen asleep, but couldn't. Instead she spread out her chakra (in the way _sensei _taught her) and kept on alert for threats as she rested her still-pulsing eyes. She was tempted to try and activate them again, but the pain behind her eyelids and the warnings that Tohru gave her rattled her enough to suppress the urge.

The next week and a half on the way back to the village went much faster than the month it took to arrive with the caravan of merchants.

They only stopped for Suki to eat (berries or whatever roots Buro dug up for her, she even resorted to eating a rather juicy grub on a rainy day where they couldn't find anything edible) and use the restroom. Buro was running off chakra alone, and seemed exhausted by her measurements, so she followed whatever order he gave to her without question, and slept when she could on his bouncing back.

Which was admittedly difficult. She instead spent her time stretching her senses, trying to detect any approaching danger.

They stayed mostly silent, both still processing their loss. At one point Buro expressed to her how he had a newfound respect for some of the females of his tribe, as he didn't realize how much work such things were. And she wasn't even a real baby. At some point Suki confessed of how she wished she never discovered her sharingan. How she wished she could have stayed Suki Cho, instead of becoming Suki Cho the Bastard. Buro tried to figure out why the thought of being a bastard child bothered her so much, but she didn't quite know herself.

The small girl was being piggy backed when they finally arrived back at the village. Buro disappeared with a _poof _and a cloud of smoke enveloped her as she fell to her feet with a wince, already missing his presence. Her arms were positively _singing _with pain from holding onto his broad shoulders for so long, but she had no choice, particularly when the primate took to swinging in the trees (once they entered the Great Konoha Forest) to go faster.

She stumbled, falling to her knees. She almost felt like throwing up from the sudden dizziness she felt. She held back a sob, not wanting to cry in front of the gatekeepers that were now rushing towards her.

Oh good, one was a Nara. He would have recognized sensei-

...Sensei's summon. Suki felt a pang in her chest and submerged her grief under her exhaustion like she had been doing all week, trying to ignore the faces of her team flashing through her mind. Her whole body started shaking again, unable to hold back the physical manifestation of her frustration.

She was immediately swarmed by shinobi, before being whisked to the hospital. One of the woman at the gates she recognized at Masao's mother, holding a baby boy on one hip. She remembered the bug that had crawled into her sleeve and stayed there during the exam. It had bee too weak to move without the chakra of his master. She had managed to feed it some of her own over the trip, enough for it to live, but it seemed like the small creature needed Masao to survive much longer.

Even as she was being carted away, she outstretched a disgustingly muddy hand, and then a finger. She nudged the small insect with her chakra, urging him in their direction. She watched as it unsteadily flew, landing on the Aubrame's outstretched palm. She was probably unrecognizable under the grime she was coated with, but hopefully the bug could be recognized. Suki didn't manage to see the look on her face before one of the medics carrying her sent a burst of chakra through her system, effectively shutting down the exhausted part of her mind that had been keeping her awake and alive practically since she arrived in Ame.

She enjoyed the sleep. She floated in it for a while, enjoying the black void that consumed her.

When she woke up (she had been doing a lot of waking up in strange places lately), she was reminded of the hospital room she woke up in as a child, after the Kyuubi attack. There was a beeping monitor to her left, and a stack of warm blankets resting on her legs, making her sweat. Her first order of business was kicking them off, letting the cool air chill her sweaty legs.

She laid her head back into her pillow, letting the events of the past month and a half invade her memories.

The grief of losing her team, of sensei being captured because of _her, _the grief that came with the knowledge that they'd all still be alive and in Konoha if Suki had just been patient and graduated on time all hit her at once.

The shakes returned, and then the sobbing, and then she was all but screaming into her hands, ignoring the way her IV tore uncomfortably at her arm. Her heart rate monitor was screaming with her, as if it were joining her symphony of pain. Her eyes burned, and she couldn't tell if it was from the tears, from just waking up, or if she activated her sharingan again.

Two nurses rushed in, and from the looks on their faces, her dojutsu had been activated. They both looked like they had seen ghosts. Not wanting to look disheveled in front of complete strangers, Suki quickly tried to calm herself, embarrassed of her outburst, but she couldn't stop the silent tears streaming down her face. They quickly left once she was comfortable again, announcing that someone would be by soon to speak with her, and someone would be waiting outside her door if she needed anything.

She didn't wanna talk. The thought made her stomach curl. But they had to know what happened. Every piece of info was important when it could help them retrieve Sensei.

She fell asleep before they arrived, still exhausted, emotionally and physically. She was surprised when she woke up to see the Hokage himself sitting at the edge of her bed, with a blonde man with blue eyes she recognized as a Yamanaka sitting on a chair to her right.

She flinched at first, not expecting the company. The adults immediately plastered on fake smiles and sugary voices, trying to placate the injured girl they frightened. The Hokage's deep voice adopted a grandfatherly tone, one she was sure he didn't use with the rest of his shinobi. The fake tones set her on edge. She expected sugary tones and fake smiles from the adults in her previous life, but in this reality, they seemed to dislike "babying" children. "Sorry to give you a fright! Good afternoon, Suki. I'm sure you are aware of who I am,"

He sent her a wink, one that made her push down a smile that threatened to emerge against her will despite her horrible mood. She felt a flash of hot anger at herself, the prospect of being able to find _humor _at such a time was insulting.

"And this is Inotsu Yamanaka. Have you two met?" He questioned. At her silence, the blonde man answered. His voice was much more feminine than she expected. "No, Choko and I have not had the pleasure of meeting Kotaro's team yet."

For a Yamanaka, he didn't seem to have much tact. Both the mention of her missing sensei and dead teammates in the same second, and coming from someone else's mouth, was like a punch to her gut. It literally left her breathless.

She had been grieving all week, but she never had time to really _process. _

But she would not cry, not in front of the Hokage, and not in front of the blonde man who she now suspected was Kota-sensei's genin teammate. Suki held her breath and didn't blink until the tear that welled up in her icy blue left eye was reabsorbed. The Hokage continued the conversation, ignoring her reaction, if he noticed any. She was sure he had.

"I do apologize, as this must be hard. But we only have part of the story. We need to know what happened, from the minute you left Konoha. Can you do this for us?"

Suki hesistated only a second before launching into a full report, similar to ones she practiced with sensei. It was pretty uneventful up until they arrived at the Ame village gates. The room tensed when she mentioned Iwa's arrival and the taunts they were throwing, but it was nothing compared to the deafening silence after she described everyone's death. She caught a look exchanged between the adults.

Suki let her sensing loose for the first time since she arrived back in Konoha, just for a quick check of her surroundings, like she had been doing for the past week and a half to reassure both herself and Buro. She was surprised to note an ANBU, hidden behind a lazy genjutsu in the ceiling.

One she could easily break while the Hokage and Inotsu were distracted.

While the adults were silently communicating, she broke the genjutsu without even a handsign. The ANBU, which she could now see wearing a Cat mask, seemed like she shocked him stiff. He was looking down at her, and she was looking up at him, with wide, oceanic eyes.

Conversation forgotten, the Yamanaka rolled his eyes. "I told you to hide better."

Another ANBU with a wolf mask melted from the shadows behind her, making her jump once again. She couldn't sense that one. He had apparently given up on hiding since his counterpart was already revealed. They took different positions in the room now that they were visible, probably just to put her at ease.

The wolf was stationed in front of the window and the cat in front of the door. The Hokage smiled down at her. "What one could expect, from an Uchiha."

The satisfaction of being underestimated by an ANBU member was immediately dashed. She met his eye, for the first time, she realized. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I'm not good at breaking genjutsu because I'm the bastard of some Uchiha. I'm good because I practiced."

She felt the whole room deadpan, including the Hokage, at her words. He sighed. "I guess I should have broken the subject with more tact. It's been brought to my attention, Miss Cho, that you have developed an ocular kekkei genkai, one previously thought to be endangered."

His eyes glinted, but Suki was unable to tell what emotion flickered behind his perfect poker face. "Do you understand what this means?"

I stared at him, still trying to decipher whatever emotion danced around his chakra. "No, not really. I don't even _want _this."

She felt the wolf by the window's chakra for the first time, but only for a moment. She must have caught him by surprise. The Yamanaka next to her was confused, and rather unashamed. "What do you mean? Most people would kill for this ability. Shouldn't you be excited?"

Her blue glare froze him to his seat as she turned his gaze towards him. "Why _should _I be? It won't be long before people are knocking down Konoha's gates to get the surviving two Uchiha, both with Sharingan, which coincidentally happen to be male and female. Do you really think Ame would keep quiet about this? They might have even gotten the impression we have _more _Uchiha, that the clan wasn't as defunct as we made everyone think."

Her eyesight was pulsing with her heartbeat once again, and her voice had started cracking at the end, but she didn't stop. She brought her shaking hands to her head, trying to calm herself. "I just went from a nameless orphan to some freak Uchiha _bastard child-"_

_"_Enough." The Hokage's voice cut her off, taking on a more commanding tone, one she expected from a military leader. "It seems you understand more than you think."

Suki closed her eyes and took a deep breath, ashamed of her outburst. She forgot these people probably worked with Uchiha, and saw their abilities in action. It was very possible she did resemble or even act like them. But contributing all of her accomplishments to her DNA instead of her hard work was insulting.

"Here's what's to happen. You're to be given the standard recovery time. When that's over you will be placed on an apprenticeship to help train your new ability. Maybe when graduation comes around, we can place you on a new team. During this, please be patient while we figure out what to do about your sensei."

Hot anger flashed through her, but instead of making her feel strong, it drained whatever energy she had left. She simply nodded her ascent, and waited quietly as the shinobi left her room single file. She tried to keep her eyes closed, because she knew if they were open, she would be glaring at them all the way out.

She didn't want a new fucking sensei. She didn't want a new fucking team. But she wasn't about to give up on being a kunoichi either.

Inotsu, which she still wasn't completely aware of his relation to the subject at hand, was the last to leave, casting her a pitying glance that Suki resented.

Once they were finally gone, a nurse brought her some fish and soup, which she ate thankfully, even if she couldn't quite taste it. When her leftovers were carted away, she laid back into her comfortable pillow, trying to remember the last time she ever felt "normal".

Suki ignored the tears that occasionally fell as she drifted to sleep. Eventually her wet pillow became too uncomfortable, and she had to flip it to the dry side.

She doesn't think she slept, not really, but she rested her mind, meditating her emotions away. She wasn't a fan of meditation, but she could use a little inner-peace at the moment.

—————

**A/N**

**I want to apologize for all the typos and misspellings. And the longer update times. I'm typing and uploading this all on the iPhone FanFiction app, so please take this into consideration. **

**Previous chapters will be edited progressively! Feel free to point out any typos or PM me if you're interested in Beta Reading. **

**Thank you for reading this far **

**Thank you for reading **

**Thank you for your reviews **


	6. Up and Up

Suki glared up at the cloudless sky that mirrored the blue of her irises. The swaying trees and vibrant green leaves dancing in the breeze worsened her dizziness, but she kept her eyes open anyways. If she closed them, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to open them again. They felt suspiciously heavy.

Kakashi was reading off to the side, leaning against the tree, clutching the same book he brought every day they met. He only ever put it down when he was showing her handsigns or became particularly interested in something she was able to perform on her first try, which happened surprisingly often.

"Get up," called his lazy monotone. She didn't comply right away, but tensed as soon as she felt his gaze leave his book and land on her prone from. She wished she could see his facial expression to judge how much trouble she actually would be in if she didn't obey his command. His half mask made that impossible.

She struggled to her side, then her stomach, then tried to push herself onto her knees. Keyword try.

As soon as she had to move, her lungs began heaving. It felt like they were half full of water or some sort of thick jello that kept her from inhaling completely. Her sunburned arms were wobbling dangerously, threatening to send her into a faceplant, but she brought her knee up under her chest nonetheless, ready to push herself up.

Kakashi only watched as she held her breath and lunged, taking a few strides. It was the only way she could get on her feet when her muscles were this exhausted. His gaze never left as she paused, and he thought for a moment she would keep her balance, but she proved him wrong as another cool breeze rippled through the clearing. It brushed against her sweaty skin and a shutter racked her small body, right before her knees locked and she fell backwards.

She fell to the ground hard, slamming her elbows into the earth with a resounding smack. Black spores invaded her vision. The pain, coupled with the pain in her lungs and her entire musculoskeletal system, was too much. She only barely managed to turn her head as a stream of bile projected from her lips. Her sweaty black hair wasn't saved, but thankfully, only some of the tips were caught.

His coal gaze cringed away. "Alright, we're done for the day. Just rest for a while."

She waited for him to leave, like he did every day after he said they were "done for the day", but he sat still against his tree with his book open in his lap.

Suki almost felt intruded on, like he was hovering, invading her space. He couldn't possibly be able to tell that he was making her uncomfortable, but she felt like he could anyways, and was doing it on purpose. A cloud drifted into her view, and she focused her blue glare on that instead, trying to ignore the acidic taste and smell of bile that surrounded her.

She had been training under the great Copy Ninja for only a week, and it was definitely a learning experience. Suki learned her new teacher obviously had no experience with children, let alone knowledge of effective training methods, and she learned that she _really _hated him.

She knew it was unjustified. He was teaching her admirably, if not a little too hardcore, but she felt that's just what she wanted at the moment. Something to throw herself into. It's just that every time he corrected her in his lazy drawl she couldn't help but think of how much she preferred Kota-sensei's warm explanations. Such thoughts always led to her wondering what torture method he might've been undergoing at _that very moment. _Such thoughts made her sick to her stomach. Such thoughts were often hard to pull herself away from. There has been no word on the status of her teacher, and while she hadn't expected to be kept informed, she almost expected him to be home by now. She felt like things were taking too long, and the longer they took, the more hope she lost. He may not even be alive. Every day he was gone his chances decreased. They learned the statistics in the academy.

Another thing that was weighing on her mind was an academy student she knew as Sasuke Uchiha. He had been included on one of her therapy sessions with Inotsu last week, where they had been formally introduced. She rather liked the man that was confirmed to be her sensei's old teammate, and also her appointed therapist, but she didn't think he read the room correctly when it came to the two young Uchiha.

Suki never knew how to act around people younger than her. It's been so long since she's actually been a child herself. She couldn't remember a lot of the specifics of her previous life but she remembered enough technicalities that the world didn't have the same "new" feeling that real children felt. Chakra and how it made things all slightly _different _was the only thing that she was really passionate to learn about.

She didn't get the impression he disliked her, exactly, but they were quiet for the entire hour and parted ways quickly afterward.

Inotsu probably thought she was just being shy, but she honestly just couldn't think of anything to say. Every time she looked at the pale boy, she felt guilty.

Suki knew, being the older one, she should take charge and be a good big cousin, comfort the boy who lost his family, let him know he's not alone anymore. But she couldn't bring herself out of her grief enough to manage it at the moment.

She hoped he needed to process everything too, and that he wouldn't resent her for taking her sweet time. Logically, he would also be put under Kakashi-sensei when he graduates in six months, the only other person in the village (excluding her) with the famous ruby eyes and therefore only one that's able to train them. Her apprenticeship might be over by then, but it might not. She might even be placed onto his team.

The realization made her panic, and she pushed the thought down for later analysis. Kakashi has started lightly tapping the hard cover on his bright orange book with the pad of his finger, she could hear it loud and clear, despite the faintness. He was getting impatient.

Suki attempted to move her sore muscles again, this time succeeding. She pulled herself up and paced back and forth down training ground 7, trying to work out the lactic acid buildup in her muscles that was undoubtedly the culprit of her discomfort. She never learned that in this life, but knew it nonetheless.

Kakashi explained that she was much too slow to keep up with the potential of her new eyesight, and Suki agreed. She remembers the first time she activated her sharingan and watched the way the rain drops froze in midair around-

**_Masao Jun Masao Jun Masao Jun-_**

If it was possible for her reaction time to get _that _fast, to the point of where the very rain stood still around her, then she had a long way to go.

Speaking of her pretty new dojutsu, she could only activate it for more than a few minutes without straining her eyes unnecessarily. Maybe, had she discovered it a tad younger, she could have avoided this side effect, but for the moment the influx of chakra through the unused passageways in her eyes irritated them to all hell. Her doctor promised her that it would fade in time, as long as she kept practicing.

"Why don't you want the sharingan?" Her mentors lazy drawl snapped her out of her thoughts. It wasn't really a secret that she didn't want to be an Uchiha, but she didn't mind the perk of the dojutsu. She had actually considered why she detested the idea of being a "bastard child" a lot during her recovery period. She knew there were more reasons, but she could only think of one. And she didn't want to think about it right now.

She didn't know exactly how her new mentor came into possession of his sharingan, but she new it wasn't a pleasant story. He must be wondering what's wrong with her. Her disappointment must seem odd to him.

Pausing her stride, she turned her attention to him. His soft looking white hair was spiked and wild, contrasting with his calm black coal eye. His other eye was covered with their village headband, but she knew what lay underneath. She sounded small, and they both knew that half the words that left her mouth were a lie. "I don't mind the sharingan. I mind what it comes with. I went from a nameless orphan, in control of her own destiny, to the child of a noble clan who will probably be forced to marry her cousin." That wasn't why she hated it, but it was a good enough reason.

He stared at her, unblinking. "Doesn't it open up a lot more possibilities, too?"

She held his eye, although she wasn't exactly sure why. She didn't want to give up that small portion of control, she guessed. "There's nothing I can do with these fancy eyes I couldn't have figured out without them."

Her answer seemed to please him. He closed his eye, nodded, and snapped his book shut with a smack. "Your taijutsu is good, for your skill level. We'll still work on your speed and reaction time, but you can work everything else in your free time. Tomorrow we'll start on something different. Bring a notepad and a pen. Or, maybe a pencil would be better?"

The tall jonin trailed off at the end, putting his hand to his chin in a familiar way that made Suki's heart pang. Kota always did that when he was thinking. He shook himself out of his trailing thoughts enough to call out goodbye as he left, but she didn't bother answering him. He probably wasn't paying attention anyways.

Suki prepared herself for her journey back to her apartment, bracing herself from the stares she would undoubtedly receive. Not only had word traveled that an Uchiha bastard with Yamanaka eyes (she scoffed at this) managed to evade the massacre, but she was being trained under the Great Copy Ninja. Walking home tired and beaten will no doubt bring attention.

The expectations she was now forced to meet felt like boulders resting on her shoulders, and she suddenly held a bigger respect for Atlas. She wasn't used to it. She would have achieved it all anyways, of course, but now it actually _mattered _if she failed, now people would actually _care _when she didn't meet her (their) goals, and it felt suffocating.

Just as she thought she would make it home without incident, she rounded the corner to her apartment building, and saw who was waiting outside the spikey and rusted metal fence that might've once been painted black.

Inwardly she groaned, kicked and screamed, complained that she didn't want to deal with this right now, that she couldn't. Outwardly, she gave the boy a weak smile and gestured for him to follow her in. He obviously wanted to talk, and she didn't want to just stand around in the street for her neighbors to gawk at.

When they were finally inside the safety of her apartment, only half of the tension eased from her shoulders. Her voice was too raspy when she tried to speak at first, she had to clear her throat and try again. "Hi, Sasuke. Make yourself at home while I clean up. Sorry, I've had a long day."

He nodded, staring at her as she disappeared into the bathroom of the small studio space. She paused, listening behind the door. It sounded like he was standing in front of her crowded bookshelf, judging by the squeaks from the floorboards. Silently she hoped he wouldn't pluck out the wrong book and send a stack of them falling.

The halfblooded Uchiha wasted no time in rinsing off the grime and brushing her teeth and hair, checking her appearance as she did so.

She had trimmed her hair again a few months back, leaving the right side brushing her jawbone in a tame frame compared to the left which was longer and more unruly, tickling her shoulder and hiding the corner of her icy blue eye, which was rimmed with black.

Not from makeup, but from insomnia. Some nights she slept, some nights she didn't. It was a toss-up, really.

Banana yellow and brown bruises dotted her arms and legs with small scratches decorating them. What wasn't bruised or sliced was burned an unhealthy red. She cursed herself for grabbing a T-shirt and shorts instead of something with more coverage. Suki padded her way back into the main room of her apartment, trying to ignore the eyes on her back of her head as she started on some tea. "I hope I didn't take too long. Any tea preference? I have jasmine, chamomile, and lavender."

"Jasmine is fine," he commented shortly. Suki didn't know, but he was trying to chase away a familiar image of his brother coming home from training, beaten and bruised, covered in scratches and scrapes. When the tea was prepared, they sat across from eachother at her low wooden table.

She was thankful she kept her apartment clean even if she never had visitors. He was the first to speak, something she was also thankful for. The entire time she prepared their drinks she was trying to come up with some sort of conversation starter, but failed miserably.

"Sorry for showing up unannounced. I guess I just want answers." He seemed almost ashamed, like waiting at her front gate was some sort of impulse and he would have walked away had she not rounded the corner. He was still and awkward, sitting ramrod straight with his head lightly bowed.

Suki paused, wondering where to begin with her explanation. She considered often how he felt about her and this was her chance to make a good impression. Anxiety bloomed in her chest. Noticing her quietness, he elaborated on his curiosity. "I guess... how did you find out? That you were half Uchiha?"

But _that _wasn't something she was ready for. This wasn't even something they had covered in therapy yet. Things had been slow moving. As she looked into his confused, vulnerable face, she knew she had to try. She folded her hands in her lap and hoped her voice wouldn't shake.

"I'm only a year older than you, but I graduated a year and a half ago instead of just six months with the rest of my class. Six months ago was our first chunin exams,"

"In Amegakure," he interrupted. She nodded. She got the impression he already knew what happened, and just wanted her side of the story.

"In Ame. I don't remember what happened exactly, we were poisoned, but we still passed. It was all really confusing. Sensei called one of his summons to heal us afterwards and she's the one who discovered it, although I figure I would've found out either way. Ame knew I had it before I even did." The words came easier than she expected. She rolled with it, telling the entire story, punctuated by small explanations of what the chunin exams entail.

Sasuke looked entranced by her words, like he was commiting every syllable to memory. Suki quickly realized that even though it felt like eons, it was actually quite a short story. She only faltered when she told him of how she stumbled on her teammates.

"One of my team was... out of commission," she hoped the relentless beating of her heart wouldn't make her voice shake. "I went to track down the enemies, but I only found one of the two remaining. When he was taken care of I went back to find my other teammate, but the last Iwa nin got to him first."

Her blue eyes were swimming, so she avoided blinking. She just let them tear up and block her vision. A few drops betrayed her and fell anyways. Sasuke paid them no mind.

"And next thing I knew, we were running. I was riding on another one of sensei's summons while he and an ANBU were dealing with the pursuit. The ANBU fell, and then I watched sensei get captured. I fled with the summon, we traveled a little over a week before finally reaching the gates."

It was silent for a while as they both processed everything. The halfblooded Uchiha rubbed her face clean of tears. Sasuke relaxed somewhere during her retelling, now staring at her with wide, curious eyes.

"Im sorry about your team," he stated awkwardly, almost as a second thought. "Can I... see them? I just want to see the proof."

She hesitated, staring at him with her wide oceanic irises. Inotsu warned her about this. "Are you sure?"

He nodded with a conviction Suki couldn't deny. She closed her eyes, channeled her chakra, and opened them again slowly.

The world sharpened again. Colors became more vibrant. She could see the pattern of the thread in their clothes. She could see the grain in the wood of the table their teacups rested on, and she was able to see a plethora of drifting plant matter within the porcelain bowls. She observed her cousin with her new eyes. His eyes were more of a dark indigo blue than a black like she originally thought. His hair, which was a matte black before in the low lighting, had a deep blue tint now.

She could _see _the most minute expression of fear on her cousins' face as he looked into her eyes, something she doubted she would have noticed regularly.

His smooth, pale skin was now riddled with tiny imperfections she would have never noticed before. When her eyes drifted downwards, she noticed his hands were shaking, and she deactivated it right away, staring at him with concern. With her sharingan gone, she could no longer notice his shaking hands or distant eyes. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head 'no,' but didn't elaborate. She didn't press him. The silence was awkward, but not unbearable. Suki waited patiently for his recovery. Before long, his deep (for an 11 year old) voice filled the silent room once again. "Yours are different. They're not as red as I remember... everyone else's being."

"My new doctor said the same thing. He said maybe it's because my eyes are different from... a pure bloods." She replied, trying to word herself carefully. Sasuke didn't need to know of her conflicted feelings about her heritage.

He gave her an odd look. "Dr. Lao Ming?" He questioned. At her nod, they shared a similar shutter. The man had apparently been one of the Uchiha's few non-clan-member medics. They had been placed under his care for that reason. He was a nice enough man, just a little... odd.

The silence was about to turn awkward again, but this time Suki didn't allow it. She made small talk, getting to know her new (and only) family member. They talked about school and fangirls, what restaurants he liked, and how he was training for graduation in a few months. Suki shared her thoughts and doubts about her famous teacher, which led to a discussion about all the attention they receive.

"I'm just glad I'm not the only one anymore. After a while you get tired of people looking at you like you're some ghost." The boy shared, looking ashamed but thankful.

"I don't know how you've put up with it for so long." Suki groaned, rolling her eyes. Sasuke gave her a look that said 'I don't either.'

The black (but actually blue) eyed boy went quiet for a moment, and Suki waited patiently for whatever was on his mind to voice itself. It was the last thing she expected, but the question lightened the mood. "So... are you really part Yamanaka too?"

She couldn't hold back the giggle that escaped. His cheeks dusted a pale pink, but he held his ground, waiting for an answer.

"I don't think so, but I guess I might have some Yamanaka ancestor. You don't tend to know those things as an orphan." He nodded at her explanation, looking annoyed at her laughter but shaking it off anyways.

They talked for a small while longer before Sasuke left for some of his own training. Suki wasn't prepared for the small empty feeling she got when her apartment was quiet again.

She didn't hate that as much as she expected. He was easy to get along with.

The next day rolled around quickly, and Suki stopped by a calligraphy store for a pencil, pen, and notebook before making her way to Kakashi's regular training grounds. The humid sky was steadily filling with clouds, darkening, and the small girl had to push down a nauseating feeling of foreboding nostalgia she got every time it rained.

She realized in her first few days that Kakashi Hatake likes to take his sweet time, so she did too. He was already there when she arrived, looking mildly annoyed, but not as mad as a teacher would typically be at a tardy student.

She lifted the shopping bag she was carrying, displaying the contents. He nodded, and motioned for her to follow him. Most of their communication was nonverbal, something Suki appreciated, particularly after a talkative session with Inotsu.

Their therapy sessions had dwindled from once every few days, to once a week, to bi-weekly. The blonde man assured her she was doing well, but it didn't feel like she had improved much from the day she arrived at the gates on Buro's back. Without having these hour long talk sessions, she had much more energy for conversation during her training with Kakashi. Despite her general dislike of having a new sensei, she was still curious about the supposedly super strong S-class jonin walking in front of her. And perhaps she was a little starstuck, even after a week of knowing him to be the laziest, most immature adult she's ever met.

The man reads porn in public, for Kami's sake.

Without realizing it, the two had walked almost completely out of Konoha. They were about to exit the West gates when Suki finally started to get anxious. Perhaps she should have been more suspicious of him. "Wait, are we leaving the village? Do we have permission for that?"

"Maa, we don't need to worry about that!" He said, giving her a closed-eye smile that gave her doubt.

Suki pretended to adjust the pouch on her hip, using the motion to slip one of her brand new (_metal) _tessen into her hoodie sleeve.

She had trained with her tessen since she arrived back in Konoha, even when she was advised against training by Dr. Ming. Kotaro's lovely aunt Kiko was happy for the company and a new way to waste time, since her favorite tenant to nag hadn't yet returned. She was the only person who hadn't seemed to completely give up on Kotaro. Visiting the lively woman was one way she kept her own hope alive. Kiko was convinced Kota-sensei was just "taking his sweet Nara time on his way home."

Anyways, if this was just some sort of trick to ambush her, she would be ready.

"I hate tessen. Such useless weapons," he called behind his shoulder. She blushed at getting caught. Noticing her embarrassment (and slight anger) at his words, he continued. "You won't need it anyways, today we are training something different."

They walked out of the gates, breezing past the guards that normally would have taken their passes. Suki stared back at them, puzzled, but they were paid almost no mind. Shrugging it off she turned back to her teacher. "We're training my sharingan finally, aren't we?"

"Hai, hai, my little student. I think you'll enjoy it."

He led her far out to a rocky wasteland that looks like it hadn't seen rain in months, miles from the clouds that were hovering over the village. There was a weight that lifted from her shoulders as soon as the clouds were gonna. There were tall spires of rock jutting from the ground, and Suki had to wonder if they were made naturally or if they were from some sort of extreme jutsu used decades ago.

The ground started to incline, and soon Suki was standing on the edge of a cliff, maybe four or five stories tall, that overlooked more curiously formed columns. You could see the beginnings of the Great Konoha Forest in the distance, a sea of green that was a sharp contrast against the orange and yellow rock. The sun was high in the sky, throwing a maze of long, dark shadows behind the cliff and every pillar that stood inbetween them and the forest. She couldn't help but think of how much fun Kotaro would have had training team 13 here. He would have had a field day with all of those shadows.

The orphan heard pebbles clanking together, and turned to Kakashi with a curious gaze. He had gathered a handful of small rocks and held them in one giant hand.

He presented a single orange stone to her. "I'm going to throw these into the air, and I want you to flash your eyes as fast as possible. On and off. I'll let you try a few times to get a hang of it."

Confused, but curious, Suki obeyed. He threw the bundle of rocks in the air, Suki flashed her sharingan, and cut off the chakra as soon as she could. It was a struggle, she couldn't cut the flow right away.

"Good enough, for now. One more time. Pay close attention." He threw the rocks just like he did before. Her chakra flashed and receded.

He was staring at her expectantly. She stared back, confused. "Now what?"

He sighed, with only a hint of exasperation. "Well, did you notice anything?"

She paused, trying to figure out what he wanted her to notice. She was drawing a blank though. Noticing her struggle, he gave her a hint.

"What's one thing that the Uchiha prided their eyes on? What was everyone really afraid of?" He gazed into her eyes, waiting. She stared back, hoping to find the answer written somewhere on his face mask.

All he did was toss some rocks. What did her expect her to see?

It clicked! "Its predictive capabilities? Right? Everyone thought the sharingan could really see into the future or something similar, but that's not the case at all. I couldn't tell where all those rocks were going to fall, but it was going slow enough that if I had a few more seconds I could have _predicted _where they would land, based on their movement."

"Well, that's part of it" he explained. "Predicting and mimicking your opponent is the best way to get under their skin. If they _think _you can see what they're going to do next, they're going to panic. Half the battle is in the mind."

He shook his head, holding up a single digit as if to scold her. "But that's not what I wanted. It's something not even medics or master fuinjutsu users understand."

Suki learned forward from her seated position, fascinated by the direction this lesson was taking. This was the most she had heard Kakashi talk, and he was surprisingly good at keeping her attention.

"The sharingan can let you manipulate your own time, to a degree. Your personal time slows minutely when it's activated. That's the most common theory anyways, and the one I believe is most likely." Her blue eyes must have shown confusion, because he didn't hesitate on elaborating.

"The Uchiha were known for their speed. They can travel at a greater velocity than most shinobi can, because their eyes can keep up with the rapid movement naturally, something others would have to chakra enhance, which is a tricky thing to do on delicate eye nerves. But the real trick is that the sharingan is able to slow your own body's time enough to comprehend and react within a normal time frame that just _seems _lighting fast. That why we need to train your speed. The faster you are, the more you will be capable of.

Suki cocked her head, "Wait, could someone with sharingan theoretically pause their own time altogether then? To stop aging, or something?"

He shrugged. "If you could, it would require a Kami's level of skill, attention, and energy. If you haven't noticed, the sharingan sucks chakra like a vampire. I don't think it'd work, there's too many unknown variables and possible paradoxes. Thinking about all that gives me a headache."

He gave her a moment while she tried to wrap her mind around this new piece of information. The sharingan was actually a time-space jutsu. Well, that was the theory anyways. It was hard to believe.

"Today you're going to practice deactivating. And then we're going to extend the amount of time you can use it. Without a solid foundation, everything you build will end up crumbling." He gave her a close-eyed smile. Or, she thinks he was smiling, judging from the way his eye crinkled slightly.

She didn't need that particular speech, though. She had a Nara for a sensei, it was something that was already well understood.

For a couple of hours, they just threw a rock back and forth, like a balloon toss. Kakashi would give her only the slightest movement to guess where the rock would go, and she had to flash her sharingan lighting fast to catch. The more she practiced, the easier it got, and they increased their speed and the number of rocks.

By the time Kakashi called for them to stop, they had been juggling seven of the sharp orange stones as fast as she could keep up. She had dropped three in rapid succession before Kakashi finally let her rest. The sun had started to set, turning the sky into a brilliant orange that contrasted against the dulled colors of the dusty landscape that surrounded them.

She heard rustling, and turned her head from the view to see Kakashi holding up the notebook and pens she bought earlier that day. Her eyes were pulsing from the strain.

"I think it's about time for the next stage of training." He led her to the edge of the cliff and set with his legs dangling over the edge. Suki settled next to him cross-legged with her book turned to the first blank paper balance gently on her knee, a pencil at the ready.

She was surprised when he produced his own notepad, one much older looking than hers. She hooded her eyes, lowered her head, flashed her sharingan, and peeked at the rapidly flipping pages as he tried to find a clean spot. Apparently the notebook was more full than he remembered it being.

Some of the pages were only half-filled, and some were jam-packed with the smallest of details. She could recognize some of the landmarks of Konoha etched into the pages, with the Hokage Monument being his favorite thing to sketch. Some of the pages were filled with people, some beautiful women, some small children. She glanced an elderly man looking exhausted after work and a pair of lively young boys playing knockknuckles together.

There was a lot of flora and fauna. Dogs, birds, and amphibians decorates the aging paper. Random plants, some she recognized as poisonous or having aphrodisiac qualities were traced with the utmost care. They were all amazing, detailed, and true to life.

He finally found a page, near the end of the book. Deft fingers smoothed the part where the paper met the spine of the notebook, and he turned to her, by which time she was able to deactivate her eyes. She felt like he knew, despite her sneakyness. He probably did.

"This was my favorite way to train my sharingan. I still do it sometimes." He readied a pen.

He raised his headband, and Suki's blue eyes went wide as saucers as she studied what lay underneath. His eye was still closed, allowing her to see the way the long scar connected.

It started at the bottom of his browbone and ended right above the bottom of his eye socket. She studied the way the bottom of his silver eyebrow and lashes were missing hair where the dark, puckered skin rose.

Suki, flustered, turned to face him fully instead of looking at the fire in the sky. She knew she probably had pink dusting her cheeks. Sensei was pretty cute.

_'Woah, '_sensei_'? Calm down there, Suki.' _She thought to herself. She had been desperately trying not to call him her _new sensei. _

That implied she had a previous sensei, and Suki refused to believe that Kotaro has nothing left to teach her.

When people ask, she'll specify that she has two. It's not uncommon, after all.

Kakashi opened his eye, and the sharingan was already activated. She only saw the flash of red before it was closed and his headband was once again covering the corner of his face. A moment later his hand was ghosting across the paper.

He drew the sun as it was slowly dipping under the horizon, coloring the occasional cloud a brilliant golden topaz, although the color couldn't be mimicked with simple graphite. The already tall shadows from the rocky orange pillars were growing longer, and birds were perched along their rocky tops, building their nests far from where most predators can reach. Desert foxes started popping their heads from their dens in the hard, cracked ground, which looked like a shattered glass pane that was only one touch from falling apart from their view. He didn't miss a single detail as he transferred it to paper.

Suki knew she could do this easily. She had never considered the sharingan could help her art, too. She could have brought her drawing pad to training instead. She used to do this for fun. Her eye for detail had always been _impeccable. _Maybe she could even impress him.

Whipping to the first page and readying her pencil, Suki activated her ruby lenses and observed the beauty before her. The sepia filter that had previously clouded her vision vanished, leaving a crystal clear view of the rich colors around her. She took it in for a moment, studying where the light and shadows clash harshly and where they faded into a soft ombré.

It was easier than ever. Her hand flew across the page, and she could feel Kakashi's eyes watching her. She had to deactivate her sharingan when it became too much, but the image was already burned into her mind.

This was the first time she had drawn since Ame, she realized. The memory sent a pang through her chest, but she buried it, or tried to. The tightness never loosened.

It didn't take long before she was installing her finishing touches, but before she could call it done, a drop of water splattered onto the page. Shocked, Suki looked up to the sky, void of rain clouds, only to realize that the water had come from _her. _Her pale hand wiped absently at her cheek, confirming that it was, in fact, damp.

The page hadn't been completely ruined, but there was a giant smudge of black now. It would be useless to finish. Kakashi's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Well... that was a pretty good start. I'm, uh, sorry?"

She looked at him, still wiping at the tears that she couldn't stop from falling. His facial expression almost made her giggle. He looked panicked, like he had never seen a crying girl before, or he was trying to figure out what he did to make her cry. Instead of giggling though, she just cracked a smile.

"No, I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I don't know why I'm crying." Her voice came out clear, thankfully. The white haired man gave her a few minutes to collect herself, which she was thankful for. When he finally replied to her, it almost made her jump. She didn't expect a reply. She really wasn't used to him being so talkative.

"My sensei was the fourth Hokage," he started, glancing at her as if waiting for a reaction. She already knew this, though. "It was just an apprenticeship at first, like we are now. And he wasn't Hokage at the time. But he was still quite the skilled shinobi. Particularly after he developed his Hiraishin seal."

Suki didn't see where he was going with his story, but she was entrapped. Having a glimpse into the life of the great Kakashi no Sharingan was probably not very common.

"He was often sent on dangerous missions, or long ones that could took weeks." He trailed off. She caught his drift. He was trying to tell her that he could relate to how she felt, that it was alright to feel this way about Sensei. Suddenly she was glad for the days they had spent together with very little communication. She could read him well enough to know he was trying to comfort her, as tactless or awkward as it was.

A new wave of tears began to fall, and she gave up on trying to contain them. She turned and watched as the last of the suns' bright rays dipped below the skyline. A subject change might be in order. "Does that mean you might be sent on long or... dangerous missions? While I'm apprenticed to you? You're quite the skilled shinobi, yourself." Despite her previous dislike of him, the thought of him leaving on a mission discomforted her for some reason.

He shrugged, relaxing. "It's possible, but right now, you're one of Konoha's number one priorities. My mission is training you up to be 'worthy of the name Uchiha'." He gave her a side glance that she didn't miss, and she was sure he didn't miss the way her mood darkened at his words. "But I've decided I'm going to train you to be worthy of the title of the Great Copy Ninjas' apprentice instead. Believe me, much better than the name Uchiha."

It was her turn to shoot him a side glance, a strange feeling of hope bubbling up at his words. She was sure her face was crimson, and she couldn't hold back a cheek splitting smile. "I'll do my best!"

His words gave her a confidence she hasn't felt in months. He saw her as something more than just a surprise Uchiha that Konoha found in their happy meal.

They decided to leave before the sky lost all of its color. Her eyes were slightly sore, but not as bad as she expected them to be.

Once they entered the forest though, it was a completely different story. The canopy blocked out almost all light. The darkness intimidated her. It was darker than even the Ame bamboo-

Stop remembering that.

Kakashi noticed her hesitation right away. His eye-smile was back, but this time, it seemed slight sadistic. "I never said training was over, did I? You may have done well at the last exercise, but I think this one will be much more difficult." She gulped.

The next four hours Suki spent activating her sharingan for as long as she could, trying to see in the dark to make it back home. The colors sharpened, and the shadows lifted slightly, but it wasn't enough to avoid every root or stray tree branch. When the pain behind her eyes became too much, she had to fly blind, occasionally crashing into a tree or slamming into a hidden branch. Every time she deactivated her sharingan, her eyes would have to readjust to the darkness. It was a living hell. Eventually she learned to play it smart, activating it in small intervals and memorizing a clear path, but once Kakashi caught onto her cheat, he started using earth jutsu to try and trip her.

She crashed into countless trees, tripped over countless roots and earthly jutsu projections, and even ran into a deer at one point, which was when she knew she was nearing the village. They must've entered part of the outer Nara territory. The animal and his family scattered before she could even call out an apology, although they wouldn't have understood it, anyways.

Eventually, the flickering lights of the lanterns on the village gates illuminated her path enough to where she could see the ground, and Kakashi called for her to stop running. She kept walking towards the light and Kakashi came up from behind her, ready to catch her in case she fell.

The white haired man had learned from their first day of training that Suki doesn't show any outward sign of exhaustion, she works her muscles at full capacity for as long as they would hold. The makings of a true Taijutsu master, something even Gai probably hadn't accomplished so young. The potential he saw in the "Uchiha bastard", as she liked to call herself, was much higher than the potential he had ever seen in himself. And he _knew _his potential, it was made clear to him at a very young age as the son of the White Fang. If anyone was to be blessed with the Sharingan, he was glad it was her.

As he neared, he could see the tears of blood dripping down her face, a sign of heavy dojutsu overuse. He sighed, pushing down the urge to rub his face in frustration. This girl didn't know how to communicate what her limits were, if she even knew them herself. "We're going to the hospital. Want me to carry you there?"

Suki shook her head, and regretted the action immediately. A migraine sprung from her eye sockets like stabbing knives. The rays of artificial light that had been relieving to see moments before were now too much to bear.

Before she knew it, they were sitting in some uncomfortable plastic chairs in a rather empty waiting room. After a few minutes of watching her head sway side to side, Kakashi became nauseous himself, and placed a hand on her sweaty dark grey locks to hold it in place. The poor girl might've concussed herself.

Other than an elderly Akimichi patiently waiting a few dozen seats down with an empty baby stroller, the waiting room was deserted. He considered that a good thing and tried to ignore all the flashing memories of the numerous times he's seen the very same green and white floor tiles splattered with blood.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait long, as another heavy set Akimichi woman with a child cradled in her arms strode out with a doctor. They both looked up and saw the girl at the same time, one uttering "Suki?" in shock, the other in beckoning.

Suki dazedly turned her head towards the two rather heavy set individuals at the door, despite the weight still cradling it. Kakashi had to hold back a chuckle as she nearly went cross eyed trying to focus. "Pardon her, Akimichi-san, she's had a long day of training."

Cheeks painted with the signature Akimichi tattoos flushed red as she noticed him. "I-Oh! Hatake-san, it's a pleasure. Pardon my rudeness. Suki is..." she flinched. "Was my teammate's student. Thank you for taking care of her. I'll get out of the way, so she can be seen. You've obviously been working her very hard. Tell her to stop by sometime, will you? The girl knows I'm always home."

He tried not to flinch at the subtle assessment of his teaching skills. He had been working her very hard. He should pay better attention. This was an important assignment for him. She just followed all of his orders without hesitation, disregarding her own limits. It reminded him of the days he spent in that dark place, being trained specifically-

He flushed the memories from his mind like he always did when they arose. He only let those out when Cat was around.

He awkwardly helped Suki into a nearby examination room and onto a cold table with a thin sheet of paper that he was worried he would rip as he set her down, but surprisingly, it held strong. Her doctor, Lao Ming, hurried into the room with a clipboard. "Sorry for the wait, Hatake-san. If you would like, you can wait outside."

Kakashi didn't know the man, but he knew that Ming had a lot of experience with Uchiha, which was why Suki was placed under his care. While he didn't seem threatening in any way, shape, or form, the innocent question sent a shiver of anxiety up his spine.

He didn't want to leave the poor girl. He doesn't know why. He hates kids, but this kid didn't _seem_ like the rest. She imprinted herself on him, without having to do _anything. _

She was understanding of him, without him having to say a single word. She could read his body language like a book (when he allowed her to). It was outright fascinating. She followed his every direction, considered his every word carefully, reminding him once again of a familiar Cat. And she didn't complain _once_. It was like she didn't know she could, or hadn't even considered it.

She reminds him of himself, he realized. His mindset at that age was almost the exact same. They both just wanted something to do, something to distract them. Literally anything was better than the broken glass they had to walk on to reach that point. Where as was his teammates' death and introduction into ROOT, hers was most likely the death of her teammates (along with the subsequent kidnapping of her sensei and only trustworthy adult figure in her life) and the discovery of her linage. And he felt like they both blamed themselves for the heartache they've experienced.

So he stayed in the too-small plastic chair and waited patiently for the examination to begin. If Dr. Ming was surprised to see him stay, he chose not to comment on it.

Despite her quietness, her voice barely above a whisper, she answered the doctors questions easily. Yes, she felt dizzy. No, she didn't feel nauseous. Yes, she was very tired. Yes, her eyes hurt, and no, it didn't hurt worse when he pressed into her temples like that.

"Sometimes the pressure of chakra on specific areas of the brain can become too much when your sharingan is activated for long amounts of time, causing a concussion. It doesn't seem like that's the case, this time, but it was very nearly to that point. Please try to be more careful, Cho-chan. And Hatake-san."

He added on the other name as an afterthought, and the silver-haired sensei once again had to hold back a flinch. He didn't appreciate the judgement he was receiving, but at the same time, he couldn't fault them. Now he knew her limits much better, and could train her accordingly.

They were shooed out of the waiting room, which now had a few more people waiting to be seen. Kakashi walked her all the way home, all the way up to her apartment, and all the way into her bedroom. Once he was sure she could undress by herself, he excused himself and went home.

He didn't want an apprentice at first, but then again, he wasn't expecting Suki would be as pleasant as she is. The day had first been a way for her to get away from the rain, as every time the sky darkened, she had major setbacks. But maybe this whole teacher business won't be so bad.


End file.
